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THE 


Old  World  and  Its  Ways 


BY 

William  Jennings  Bryan 


DESCRIBING 


A    TOUR    AROUND    THE    WORLD 

AND 

JOURNEYS  THROUGH  EUROPE 


ST.  LOUIS 

The  Thompson  Publishing  Company 

1907 

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COPYRIGHT  1907 
BY  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 


Author's    Preface 


This  volume  is  published  in  response  to  numerous  requests  from  many 
sections,  and  my  purpose  is  to  put  in  permanent  and  convenient  form  the 
observations  made  during  travels  in  the  old  world. 

The  illustrations  will  throw  light  on  the  subjects  treated  and  it  is  believed 
will  add  much  to  the  interest.  The  photographs  from  which  they  -were  made 
were  collected  at  the  places  visited  or  taken  by  members  of  our  party.  Chapters 
one  to  forty-six  were  written  from  time  to  time  during  the  trip  around  the 
world. 

I  was  accompanied  on  this  tour  by  my  wife  and  our  two  younger  children, 
William  J.,  Jr.,  and  Grace,  aged  sixteen  and  fourteen  years  respectively.  The 
trip  was  taken  for  educational  purposes  and  proved  far  more  instructive  than 
we  anticipated. 

We  left  our  home  September  21,  1905,  sailed  from  San  Francisco  Septem- 
ber 2  7,  and  arrived  in  New  York  August  29,  1906 — the  day  before  the  date 
fixed  for  the  home-coming  reception  in  that  city  — and  reached  Lincoln  Septem- 
ber 5,  sixteen  days  less  than  a  year  after  our  departure. 

While  most  of  our  travel  was  in  the  North  Temperate  Zone,  we  were 
below  the  Equator  a  few  days  in  Java  and  above  the  Arctic  Circle  in  Norway. 

In  this  narrative  I  fear  I  have  sacrificed  literary  style  to  conciseness,  for  I 
have  endeavored  to  condense  and  crowd  into  the  space  as  much  information  as 
possible.  The  statement  of  facts  may  be  relied  on,  being  based  either  upon 
observations  gathered  at  first  hand  from  persons  worthy  to  be  trusted,  or  taken 
from  authoritative  writings. 

Mrs.  Bryan  assisted  me  in  the  collection  of  materials  and  the  preparation  of 
the  matter,  and  I  am  also  indebted  to  the  American  Ambassadors,  Ministers  and 
Consuls,  as  well  as  to  the  officials  of  the  countries  which  were  visited,  for  valuable 
information. 

I  have  included  a  series  of  articles  written  during  a  former  visit  to  Europe 
in  1902.  As  I  have  avoided  in  the  World  Tour  Narratives  the  subjects  treated 
in  these  previous  European  articles,  the  two  series  are  appropriately  published 
together. 

All  of  these  are  published  with  the  more  pleasure  because  I  believe  they 
will  give  the  reader  increased  admiration  for  American  institutions  and  a  larger 
confidence  in  the  triumph  of  American  Ideals. 

WILLIAM    JENNINGS    BRYAN 
Lincoln,  Nebraska,   1907 


*T/u;«?nf: 


CONTENTS 

Author's  Preface   5 

Chapter  I — Crossing  the  Pacific — Hawaii 15 

(  Ihapter  II — Japan  and  Her  People 25 

Chapter  III — Japanese  Customs  and  Hospitality 37 

Chapter  IV — Japan — Her  History  and  Progress 49 

Chapter  V — Japan — Her  Industries,  Arts  and  Commerce 61 

Chapter  VI — Japan — Her  Educational  System  and  Her  Religions  69 
Chapter  VII — Japan — Her  Government,  Politics  and  Problems.  .    80 

Chapter  VIII— Korea— "The  Hermit   Nation" 90 

Chapter  IX— China— As  She  Was   101 

Chapter  X— China— As  She  Was— Part  Second 112 

Chapter  XI — Chinese  Education,  Religion  and  Philosophy 119 

Chapter  XII — China's  Awakening   127 

Chapter  XIII — Chinese  Exclusion    137 

Chapter  XIV— The  Philippines— The  Northern  Islands 151 

Chapter  XV— The  Philippines— The  Moro  Country 177 

Chapter  XVI — The    Philippine    Problem 186 

Chapter  XVII — The   Philippine   Problem — Continued 197 

Chapter  XVIII— Java— The  Beautiful    205 

Chapter  XIX — Netherlands  India    215 

Chapter  XX— In  The  Tropics    223 

Chapter  XXI — Burma  and  Buddhism    234 

Chapter  XXII — Eastern  India    247 

Chapter  XXIII— Hindu   India    280 

Chapter  XXIV — Mohammedan  India    273 

Chapter  XXV — Western  India   285 

Chapter  XXVI — British  Rule  in  India   , 295 

Chapter  XXVII — Ancient  Egypt   312 

Chapter  XXVIII— Modern  Egypt    321 

Chapter  XXIX — Among   the    Lebanons 331 


Vll 


CONTEXTS   (Continued).  ™ 

Chapteb  XXX — The    Christian's   Mecca    341 

Chapteb  XXXI— Galilee    349 

Chapter  XXXII— Greece,,  the  World's  Teacher 358 

Chapteb   XXXIII— The   Byzantine   Capital    366 

Chapteb  XXXIV— In  the  Land  of  the  Turk 376 

Chapteb  XXXV — Hungary  and  Her  Neighbors 385 

( 'n  \i'ii:i:    XXX  VI — Austria-Hungary    396 

Chapteb  XXXVII— The  Duma    403 

Chapteb  XXXVIII— Around  the  Baltic 417 

Chapteb  XXXIX — Democratic  Norway   425 

Chapteb  XL — England's  New  Liberal  Government 435 

Chapteb  XLI — Homes  and  Shrines  of  Great  Britain 445 

Chapteb  XLII — Glimpses  of  Spain 456 

(  Ihapteb  XLIII— A  Word  to  Tourists 464 

<  Ihapteb  XLIV — American  Foreign  Missions 470 

(  Ihapteb  XL V— World  Problems < 478 

Chapter  XL VI — A  Study  of  Governments 485 

Chapteb  XLVII— The  Tariff  Debate  in  England 492 

Chapter  XL VIII— Ireland  and  Her  Leaders »498 

Chapter  XLIX — Growth  of  Municipal  Ownership 504 

Chapteb  L — France  and  Her  People 510 

Ch  \i-ter  LI — The  Republic  of  Switzerland 521 

Chapter  LII — Three    Little    Kingdoms — Denmark 525 

Chapteb  LIII — Belgium   527 

Chapter  LIV— The  Netherlands   529 

Chapteb   LV — Germany  and  Socialism 533 

Chapteb  LVI-  Russia  and  Her  Czar 542 

Chapteb  LVII— Rome— The  Catholic  Capital 549 

Chapteb  LVIII— Tolstoy,  The  Apostle  of  Love 559 

Chapteb  LIX — Notes  on  Europe   567 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

William  Jennings   Bryan Frontispiece 

Leaving  San    Francisco  on  the   Manchuria 16 

Surf-Riding   in    Hawaii 19 

Our    Party    21 

I  [awaiian    Foliage    24 

A    Picturesque    View 26 

At    Miyanosliita    29 

A   Japanese   Family ?,\ 

Dwarf   Maple — 50   years   old 36 

Japanese    Geisha    Girls 3S 

Yukio    Ozaki — Mayor   of   Tokyo 40 

In   Count   Okuma's    Conservatory 43 

Marquis    Ito    *. 44 

Count    Okuma    45 

The  Guest  of  Gov.  Chikami  at  Kagoshima 50 

Japanese  Lady  in  American  Dress 53 

A    Japanese    Maiden :a 

Yukichi  Fukuzawa.  Jr 57 

Sumitka    Haseba — Japanese    Statesman 59 

Japanese   Water-Carrier    64 

A  Visit  to  Count  Okuma's  School  near  Tokyo 70 

Japanese   Stone  Lantern 74 

Korean  Lion — Yes    75 

Korean  Lion — No    75 

In  Front  of  Nikko  Temple — Japan 7(3 

Admiral    Togo    82 

President    of    Diet — Japan 84 

Baron    Kentaro    Kaneko 85 

Mr.  Okura.  a  Successful  Japanese  Business  Man ^7 

A   Shinto  Gate  at  Nara 89 

Two   Korean  Families 91 

In   Korea — Group  of  Natives 92 

A  Korean   Scene 95 

American  Hospital   at   Seoul — Korea 99 

Doing   the   Family   Washing 100 

A  Group  of  Chinese — Pekin L03 

The  Wall  at  Pekin 105 

A  Street  in  Pekin 1 07 

Chinese  Emperor  108 

The  Father  of  the  Chinese  Emperor 109 

Empress  Dowager — China   110 

One  of  the   Principal   Streets   of   Pekin Ill 

House  Boats  at  Canton 114 

Yuan  Shi  Kai — Vicerov  Tientsin  and  Pekin 117 

Altar  of  Heaven— Pekin 123 

Illustration  of  Foot-Binding '. 125 

Traveling   in    North    China 126 

Vicerov  Chang  Chih  Tung 129 

Wu    Ting  Fang 130 

Chinese  Cart  at  Pekin 133 


x  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Chou  I'u,  Viceroy  of  Nanking 134 

A  Canton  Bridge 136 

Manchu  and  Chinese  Women — China 139 

The  Chinese  Wheelbarrow 143 

Fashionable  Conveyance  at  Hong  Kong 14? 

Colossal   Statue  of  Ming,  Ruler  of  China 150 

A   Filipino  Village 152 

Filipino  Houses    153 

General  Emilio  Aguinalclo 154 

Filipino  Boys  with  Blow  Guns 155 

Group  of  Filipinos 156 

In    the    Philippines 157 

The  Accomplished  Wife  of  a  Filipino  Official 159 

Filipino    Night    School — American    Teachers 161 

A    Filipino    Belle 165 

Emilio  Aguinaldo,  Mother,  Sister,  Brother  and  Son 167 

A  Filipino  Teacher 169 

Hauling  Hemp   *. 170 

Moro    Huts    176 

Threshing   Rice    176 

Moros   182 

Moro   School — Zamboanga 185 

Henry  C.  Ide,  Gov.  Gen.   Philippine  Islands 187 

Datu    Piang  and   Grandson 188 

Dr.    G.    Apacible 191 

Plowing   in   Sulu   Land 193 

Sailing   in    Manila   Bay 195 

Carabao  Cart  and  Driver 198 

Harvesting    Sugar    Cane 199 

The  Rice  Harvest 200 

A   Driveway   in   Botanical   Garden — Buitenzorg 206 

Extinct    Volcano,    Salak 207 

A  Java   Road 210 

Temple  at  Boro  Boedoer 213 

A    Native    216 

A   Group  of  Javanese 219 

In   the  Tropics 224 

The  Lake  at  Kandy,  Ceylon 226 

Singalese  Chief's  Daughter — Showing  Jewelry. 22S 

Singalese   Carpenter    229 

Tamil  Girl— Ceylon   231 

An  Elephant  at  Work  in  Rangoon 235 

The  Park  at  Rangoon 236 

Five   Hundred   Pagoda   at   Mandalay 237 

Burmese  Woman  with  Cigarette 238 

Buddhist    Temple    239 

The  Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda 240 

Burmese   Family 242 

Gathering  Precious  Stones  in  Burma 245 

Bronze  Image  of  Buddha,  Built  1252 246 

Calcutta    Burning    Ghat 248 

The  Maharaja  of  Mourbharag — An  Indian  Prince 250 

Indian   Princess 251 

The  Great  Banyan  Tree — Calcutta 252 

A   Calcutta    Street— India 253 

Keshub    Chunder    Sen 255 

The  Bull  Cart  in  India 256 

Thibetans,  as  Seen  at  Darjeeling 257 

View  of  the  Himalayas,  as  seen  from  Darjeeling 258 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

PAGE 

The  Camel  in  India 261 

Cultivating  Psychic  Power  on  Spikes  at   Benares,  hidia 262 

Bathing  Ghat  on  the  Ganges 263 

Pundit     Sakharam     Ganesh 264 

Hindu    Types    266 

Hindu  Fair  at  Allahabad — India 2(>7 

Hindu    Fakir    268 

Mrs.    Besant's    College 269 

A   Gala   Day   in   India 270 

Cremation  of  Dead   Bodies — Burning  Ghat 27] 

Hindu    Group    272 

Angel    of   the   Resurrection 274 

The  Honorable  My  Justice  Badruddin  Tyabji 275 

Ruins  of  the  Residency — Lucknow,   India 276 

Pearl    Mosque    at    Delhi 277 

Gokale — Prominent    Indian    Reformer 278 

A    Pool   at   Lucknow — India 279 

Mohammedans    at    Prayer 280 

Klanjiban   Ganguli,    Supt.    Instruction :2s  l 

Taj    Mahal,   Agra 283 

Street    in    Jaipore — India 287 

An  American   Maid   in    Parsee   Costume 290 

Maharaja — Jaipore     291 

Mohammedan    Lady,    Bombay 292 

Elephant    Parade    293 

Assembling  for  the  Bombay   Meeting 294 

His  Excellency  the  Earl  of  Minto 296 

Viceroy's    Palace    at    Calcutta 298 

Sir  James   Diggs  La  Touche 300 

Sir   Andrew    Frazer 302 

Lord    Curzon    303 

Gov.    Lamington — Bombay,    India 307 

Indian    Students     309 

Famous    Asoka   Pillar .'511 

Karnak    Temple    - 313 

Mummy   and    Wooden    Statue 314 

The   Pvramid   and  the   Sphinx 319 

A    Sphinx    320 

Climbing   the    Pyramids    322 

The  Ostrich  Farm  near  Cairo 3:23 

Egyptian    Ladies    324 

An    Egyptian    Merchant 325 

Khedive   of    Egypt    , 328 

Reunion    on    the    Desert 329 

Temple    at    Baalbek 332 

The  Giant  Stone  at   Baalbek 334 

Cedars  of  Lebanon 336 

Bevrouth — Svria     337 

The    Big  Tail    Sheep 338 

Damascus    Dogs     339 

Mount    of    Olives 344 

Wailing  Place  of  the  Jews 346 

A    Jewish    Rabbi 347 

A    Bedouin     351 

At    Breakfast    352 

An   Arab   Maiden 353 

The  Bedouin   Shepherd  and  His  Flock 354 

Salim  Moussa,  with  Partv  of  Tourists 355 

Marv's   Well    at    Nazareth 356 


xii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The   Parthenon    359 

The  Acropolis  at  Athens 3G0 

Mars    Hill    362 

Demosthenes'    Platform     363 

Frieze  of  the   Parthenon * 365 

St.   Sofia  at  Constantinople ■. 367 

The   Bosphorns   at   Constantinople 369 

Smoking  the    Hubble-Bubble    Pipe 371 

Robert's   College  near   Constantinople 373 

At  the  World's  Breakfast  Table 375 

Sons  of  the   Sultan 378 

Turkish    Officials . . . 381 

The   Danube   and   Parliament   Building — Budapest 387 

A   Street  in   Budapest 388 

Budapest     391 

Prime  Minister  Wekerle — Hungary 393 

Count   Apponyi 394 

Minister   Kossuth    395 

Carlsbad 399 

Count   Ignatieff    404 

The  Palace   Where  the  Russian   Duma   Meets 405 

Prof.    Serge    Murmetzeff 407 

Editor  Paul  I.  Miliukoff 40s 

Some  Members  of  Russian  Duma 4l() 

Members    of    the   Russian    Duma 411 

Maxim  Winawer   412 

Group  of  Russian  Duma  with  Mr.  Bryan  in  Center 413 

Ivan    Petrunkevich    415 

A  View  of  Stockholm 41S 

King   Oscar   of   Sweden 420 

The  Viking  Ship  at  Christiania 420 

In    H jorendfiord 427 

Troldfjord     42S 

Ole    Bull    430 

King  Haakon  and  Queen  Maud 433 

King  Edward   VII 436 

Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman 438 

House  of  Parliament,  London 439 

John  Morley,  M.  P 441 

John    Burns    443 

Melrose   Abbey    440 

Birthplace   of  Robert   Burns 449 

Shakespeare's    Birth-House    Restoration > 450 

Hawarden  Castle — Home  of  Gladstone 453 

W.    E.    Gladstone 454 

Windsor   Castle    455 

The  Old  Bridge  at  Cordova 458 

The    Alhambra— Spain    461 

Resignation     463 

Vesuvius   as    Seen    from   Naples 466 

Mission    School    477 

Four  Statesmen  of  England 4(.t:; 

Irish   Patriots    499 

Charles    S.    Parnell 502 

Meeting  of  the  Waters — Killarney 503 

The  Broomelaw  Bridge  at  Glasgow 505 

Napoleon    Bonaparte    51^ 

Napoleon    Bonaparte    Crowning    Josephine 514 

Avenue    Champs-Elysees — Paris    516 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

PAGE 

Tomb  of  Napoleon 518 

King  Christian   and    Wife 526 

Palace    of    Justice — Belgium 527 

The   Hague    529 

The  Market  Place  at  Amsterdam 530 

A    Netherlands    Statesman 531 

A    Dutch    Windmill    532 

The  Reichstag 533 

Leipsic  University   534 

The  Rhine    53G 

Kaiser  Wilhelm    538 

Breton  Peasants   540 

The  Czar  of  Russia ■ "'4:: 

Russian  Beggar 547 

Kremlin    of    Moscow 548 

Coliseum — Rome    550 

Pope    Pius    X 551 

Naples    553 

Grand    Canal — Venice    555 

St.    Peter's   at   Rome ->'>~ 

Madonna     558 

Count    Tolstoy   ■"><'>u 

Goddess  of  Liberty — New  York  Harbor 575 


ROUTE  TRAVELED. 


CHAPTER   I. 

CROSSING  THE   PACIFIC— HAWAII. 

There  is  rest  in  an  ocean  voyage.  The  receding  shores  shut  out  the 
hum  of  the  busy  world;  the  expanse  of  water  soothes  the  eye  by  its  very 
vastness;  the  breaking  of  the  waves  is  music  to  the  ear  and  there  is 
medicine  for  the  nerves  in  the  salt  sea  breezes  that  invite  to  sleep.  At 
first  one  is  disturbed — sometimes  quite  so — by  the  motion  of  the  ves- 
sel, but  this  passes  away  so  completely  that  before  many  days  the  dip- 
ping of  the  ship  is  really  enjoyable  and  one  finds  a  pleasure  in 
ascending  the  hills  and  descending  the  valleys  into  which  the  deck 
sometimes  seems  to  be  converted. 

If  one  has  regarded  the  Pacific  as  an  unknown  or  an  untraversed 
sea,  the  impression  will  be  removed  by  a  glance  at  a  map  recently  pub- 
lished by  the  United  States  government — a  map  with  which  every 
ocean  traveler  should  equip  himself.  On  this  map  the  Pacific  is 
covered  with  blue  lints  indicating  the,  shortest  routes  of  travel 
between  different  points  with  the  number  of  miles.  The  first  thing  that 
strikes  one  is  that  the  curved  line  indicating  the  northern  route 
between  San  Francisco  and  Yokohama  is  only  4,536  miles  long,  while 
the  apparently  straight  line  between  the  two  points  is  4,791  miles  long 
—the  difference  being  explained  by  the  curvature  of  the  earth, 
although  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  in  following  the  direct  line  a  ship 
would  have  to  climb  over  such  a  mountain  range  of  water,  so  to  speak, 
as  to  make  it  shorter  to  go  ten  degrees  north.  The  time  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Japanese  coast  has  recently  been  reduced  to  less 
than  eleven  days,  but  the  northern  route  is  not  so  pleasant  at  this 
Mason  of  the  year,  and  we  sailed  on  the  Manchuria,  September  27, 
going  some  twenty  degrees  farther  south  via  Honolulu.  This  route 
covers  5,545  miles  and  is  made  in  about  sixteen  days  when  the  weather 
is  good. 

The  Manchuria  is  one  of  the  leviathans  of  the  Pacific  and  is  owned 
by  Mr.  Harriman,  president  of  the  Union.  Pacific  and  Southern  Pacific 
Railways.  The  ship's  crew  suggests  the  Orient,  more  than  three- 
is 


16 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


fourths  being  Chinese,  all  wearing  the  cue  and  the  national  garb. 
There  is  also  a  suggestion  of  the  Orient  in  the  joss  house  and  opium 
den  of  the  Chinese  in  the  steerage. 

In  crossing  the  one  hundred  and  eightieth  meridian  we  lost  a  day, 
and  as  wo  are  going  all  the  way  around,  we  cannot  recover  it  as  those 
can  who  recross  the  Pacific.  We  rose  on  Saturday  morning,  October  7, 
and  at  nine  o'clock  were  notified  that  Sunday  had  begun  and  the 
remainder  of  the  day  was  observed  as  the  Sabbath  (October  8). 

According  to  the  chart  or  map  referred  to  there  are  three 
centers  of  ocean  traffic  in  the  Pacific.  Honolulu,  the  most  important 
of  all,  the  Midway  Islands,  1,160  miles  northwest  of  Honolulu,  and 


LEAVING   SAN   FRANCISCO    ON    THE   MANCHURIA. 

the  Samoan  Islands,  some  twenty-two  hundred  miles  to  the  south. 
The  Society  Islands,  about  the  same  distance  to  the  southeast  of  Hono- 
lulu, and  Guam,  some  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  the  mainland  of 
Asia,  are  centers  of  less  importance. 

Our  ship  reached  Honolulu  early  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day 
out  and  we  had  breakfast  on  the  island.  The  Hawaiian  Islands  (in- 
habited) number  eight  and  extend  from  the  southeast  to  the  north- 
vvesl .  covering  aboul  six  degrees  of  longitude  and  nearly  four  of  latitude. 
Of  these  eight  islands,  Hawaii,  the  southernmost  one,  is  the  largest, 
having  an  area  of  4,200  square  miles  and  a  population  of  nearly 
fifty  thousand.  Hilo,  its  chief  city,  situated  on  the  east  shore,  is  the 
second  Hawaiian  city  of  importance  and  contains  some  seven  thou- 


HAWAII  17 

sand  inhabitants.  The  island  of  Oahu,  upon  which  Honolulu  is  sit- 
uated, is  third  in  size  but  contains  the  largest  population,  almost  sixty 
thousand,  of  which  forty  thousand  dwell  in  or  near  the  capital.  The 
islands  are  so  small  and  surrounded  by  such  an  area  of  water  as  to 
remind  one  of  a  toy  land,  and  yet  there  are  great  mountains  there,  one 
piercing  the  clouds  at  a  height  of  14,000  feet.  Immense  cane  fields 
stretch  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and  busy  people  of  different  colors 
and  races  make  a  large  annual  addition  to  our  country's  wealth.  On 
one  of  the  islands  is  an  active  volcano  which  furnishes  a  thrilling 
experience  to  those  who  are  hardy  enough  to  ascend  its  sides  and  cross 
the  lava  lake,  now  grown  cold,  which  surrounds  the  present  crater. 
Each  island  has  one  or  more  extinct  volcanoes,  one  of  these,  called 
"The  Punch  Bowl,"  being  within  the  city  limits  of  Honolulu.  On  one 
of  the  islands  is  a  leper  colony,  containing  at  times  as  many  as  a 
thousand  of  the  afflicted.  During  campaigns  the  spellbinders  address 
the  voters  from  boats  anchored  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  shore. 

As  the  Manchuria  lay  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  all  day  the  passengers 
went  ashore  and,  dividing  into  groups,  inspected  the  various  places 
of  interest.  By  the  aid  of  a  reception  committee,  composed  of  demo- 
crats, republicans  and  brother  Elks,  we  were  able  to  crowd  a  great 
deal  of  instruction  and  enjoyment  into  the  ten  hours  which  we  spent 
in  Honolulu.  We  were  greeted  at  the  wharf  with  the  usual  salutation. 
Aloha,  a  native  word  which  means  "a  loving  welcome,"  and  were 
decorated  with  garlands  of  flowers  for  the  hat  and  neck.  While  these 
garlands  or  leis  (pronounced  lays)  are  of  all  colors,  orange  is  the 
favorite  hue,  being  the  color  of  the  feather  cloak  worn  by  the  Hawai- 
ian kings  and  queens  in  olden  times.  The  natives  are  a.  very  kindly 
and  hospitable  people,  and  we  had  an  opportunity  to  meet  some 
excellent  specimens  of  the  race  at  the  public  reception  and  the  country 
residence  of  Mr.  Damon,  one  of  the  leading  bankers  of  the  island. 

When  the  islands  were  discovered  in  1778  by  Captain  Cook,  the 
natives  lived  in  thatched  huts  and  were  scantily  clothed,  after  the 
manner  of  the  tropical  races.  They  were  not  savages  or  cannibals,  but 
maintained  a  degree  of  civil  order  and  had  made  considerable  progress 
in  the  primitive  arts.  In  their  religious  rites  they  offered  human  sac- 
rifices, but  they  welcomed  the  white  man  and  quickly  embraced 
Christianity.  American  influence  in  the  islands  reaches  back  some 
seventy-five  years,  beginning  with  New  England  missionaries,  many 
of  whose  descendants  have  made  permanent  homes  here.  Some  of 
these,  mingling  their  blood  with  the  blood  of  the  natives,  form  con- 
necting links  between  the  old  and  the  new  civilization.    Foreign  ways 


18  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

and  customs  soon  began  to  manifest  themselves  and  long  before  an- 
nexation the  native  rulers  built  buildings  after  the  style  of  our  own 
architecture.  The  Capitol  building,  erected  twenty  years  ago  for  the 
king's  palace,  is  an  imposing  structure,  and  the  Judiciary  building 
is  almost  equal  to  it.  The  parks  and  public  grounds  are  beautiful  and 
well  kept,  and  the  business  blocks  commodious  and  substantial.  In 
short,  Honolulu  presents  the  appearance  of  a  well  built,  cleanly  and 
prosperous  American  city,  with  its  residences  nestling  among  palm 
trees  and  tropical  plants.  Good  hotels  are  abundant.  The  Alexander 
Young  hotel  is  built  of  stone  imported  from  the  States  and  would  do 
credit  to  a  city  of  half  a  million.  The  Royal  Hawaiian  hotel,  even 
more  picturesque,  though  not  so  large,  and  the  Moana  hotel,  at  the 
beach,  vie  with  the  Young  in  popularity. 

The  program  for  our  day's  stay  began  with  a  seven  mile  automobile 
ride  to  the  Pali,  the  pass  over  which  the  natives  cross  to  the  farther 
side  of  the  island.  The  road  is  of  macadam  and  winding  along  a  pictur- 
esque valley  rises  to  a  height  of  about  1,200  feet.  At  this  point  the 
eye  falls  upon  a  picture  of  bewitching  beauty.  Just  below  is  a 
precipitous  cliff  over  which  a  conquering  king,  Kamehameha  the  First, 
aboui  oiic  hundred  and  ten  years  ago,  drove  an  opposing  army  when 
he  established  himself  as  ruler  of  the  islands.  To  the  east  from  the 
foot  of  the  cliff,  a  thousand  feet  down,  stretches  a  beautiful  valley  with 
an  endless  variety  of  verdure;  and  beyond,  a  coast  line  broken  by 
a  rocky  promontory,  around  whose  base  the  waters  reflect  from  their 
varying  depths  myriad  hues  of  blue  and  green.  There  are  ocean  views 
of  greater  expanse,  mountain  views  more  sublime  and  agricultural 
landscapes  more  interesting  to  a  dweller  upon  prairies,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  there  is  anywhere  upon  earth  a  combination  of  mountain, 
valley  and  ocean — a  commingling  of  the  colors  of  sky  and  sea  and 
iock  and  foliage — more  entrancing.  Twice  on  the  way  to  Pali  we 
passed  through  mountain  showers  and  were  almost  ready  to  turn  back, 
but  the  members  of  the  committee,  knowing  of  the  rare  treat  ahead, 
assured  us  that  Hawaiian  showers  were  of  short  duration  and  "extra 
dry.''  When  we  at  last  beheld  the  view,  we  felt  that  a  drenching  might 
gladly  have  been  endured,  so  great  was  the  reward. 

The  committee  next  took  us  by  special  train  on  the  Oahu  railroad  to 
one  of  the  great  sugar  plantations  of  the  island,  a  plantation  outside 
of  the  trust,  owned  and  operated  by  a  San  Francisco  company.  This 
company  has  built  an  immense  refinery  upon  the  plantation  and  the 
manager  showed  us  the  process  of  sugar  making  from  the  crushing 
of  the  cane  to  the  refined  product,  sacked  ready  for  shipment. 


HAWAJI 


19 


The  stalks,  after  passing  through  the  mill,  are  dried  and  carried  to 
the  furnace,  thus  saving  some  sixty-five  per  cent  of  the  cosl  of  fuel — 

an  important  economy  when  it  is  remembered  that  all  the  fuel  for 
manufacturing  is  brought  from  abroad.  Until  recently,  several  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars'  worth  of  coal  was  annually  brought  from  Aus- 
tralia, but  California  oil  is  now  being  substituted  for  coal.  The  refuse 
which  remains  when  the  sugar  making  process  is  completed  is  returned 
to  the  land  as  fertilizer.  The  economies  effected  in  fuel  and  in  ferti- 
lizer, together  with  the  freight  saved  on  impurities  carried  in  the  raw- 
sugar,  amount  to  a  considerable  sum  and  to  this  extent  increase  the 
profit  of  the  business.  While  at  the  sugar  plantation  we  were  shown 
an  immense  pumping  plant  used  in  the  irrigation  of  the  land.  The 
water  is  drawn  from  artesian  wells  and  forced  to  a  height  of  almost 


SURF-RIDING   IN    HAWAII. 


six  hundred  feet,  in  some  places,  and  from  the  summits  of  the  hills 
is  carried  to  all  parts  of  the  plantation.  Some  idea  of  the  size  of  the 
plants  can  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  the  pumps  used  on  this 
plantation  have  a  combined  capacity  of  sixty  million  gallons  per  day. 

Speaking  of  irrigation,  I  am  reminded  that  the  rainfall  varies  greatly 
in  different  parts  of  the  island.  At  Honolulu,  for  instance,  it  is  some- 
thing like  thirty  inches  per  year,  while  at  one  point  w-ithin  five  miles 
of  the  city  the  annual  rainfall  sometimes  reaches  one  hundred  and 
forty  inches!  The  sugar  plantation  visited,  while  one  of  the  largest, 
is  only  one  of  a  number  of  plantations,  the  total  sugar  product  of  the 
islands  reaching  about  four  hundred  thousand  tons  annually. 

Next  to  the  sugar  crops  comes  the  rice  crop,  many  of  the  rice  fields 


20  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

lying  close  to  the  city.  Pineapples,  bananas,  coffee  and  cocoanuts  are 
also  raised.  Attention  is  being  given  now  to  the  development  of  crops 
which  can  be  grown  by  small  planters,  those  in  authority  recognizing 
the  advantage  to  the  country  of  small  holdings. 

The  labor  problem  is  the  most  serious  one  which  the  people  of 
Hawaii  have  to  meet.  At  present  the  manual  labor  is  largely  done  by 
Japanese,  Chinese  and  Koreans — these  together  considerably  outnum- 
bering the  whites  and  natives.  Several  thousand  Portuguese  have  been 
brought  to  the  islands  and  have  proven  an  excellent  addition  to  the 
population.  On  the  day  that  we  were  there  the  immigration  commis- 
sion authorized  the  securing  of  a  few  Italian  families  with  a  view  of 
testing  their  fitness  for  the  climate.  The  desire  is  to  develop  a  homo- 
geneous population  suited  to  the  conditions  and  resources  of  the  islands. 

We  returned  from  the  sugar  plantation  in  automobiles,  stopping  at 
the  country  home  of  Mr.  Damon,  which  was  once  a  royal  habitation. 
The  present  owner  has  collected  many  relics  showing  the  life,  habits 
and  arts  of  the  native  Ilawaiians. 

Still  nearer  the  town  we  visited  two  splendid  schools,  one  for  native 
boys,  the  other  for  native  girls,  built  from  the  funds  left  by  native 
chiefs.  The  boys  and  girls  were  drawn  up  in  front  of  one  of  the 
buildings  and  under  the  direction  of  their  instructor  sang  the  national 
anthem  of  the  natives,  now  preserved  as  the  territorial  hymn.  They 
were  a  finely  proportioned,  well  dressed  and  intelligent  group  and  are 
said  to  be  studious  and  excellently  behaved.  Nothing  on  the  islands 
interested  us  more  than  these  native  children,  illustrating  as  they  do, 
not  only  the  possibilities  of  their  race,  but  the  immense  progress  made 
in  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  contact  with  the  whites.  The 
museum,  the  gift  of  Mr.  Bishop,  now  of  California,  who  married  the 
widow  of  one  of  the  native  chiefs,  is  said  to  contain  the  best  collection 
of  the  handiwork  of  the  natives  of  the  Pacific  Islands  to  be  found  any- 
where 

The  public  reception  at  the  Royal  Hawaiian  hotel  gave  us  an  op- 
portunity to  meet  not  only  the  prominent  American  and  native  citizens 
and  their  wives,  but  a  large  number  of  the  artisans  and  laborers  of  the 
various  races,  and  we  were  pleased  to  note  throughout  the  day  the  har- 
monious feeling  which  exists  between  the  whites  and  the  brown  popu- 
lation. 

Political  convictions  produce  the  same  results  here  as  in  the  United 
States,  sometimes  dividing  families.  For  instance,  Prince  Cupid,  the 
present  territorial  representative  in  congress,  is  a  republican,  while  his 
brother,  Prince  David,  is  an  enthusiastic  democrat. 


OUR  PARTY: 

W.  J.   BRYAN  MRS.  MARY  BAIRD   BRYAN 

GRACE  DEXTER  BRYAN  \V.  J.  BRYAN,  JR. 


y 


22  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

The  luncheon  prepared  by  the  committee  included  a  number  of 
native  dishes  cooked  according  to  the  recipes  which  were  followed  for 
hundreds  of  years  before  the  white  man  set  foot  upon  the  island.  The 
health  of  the  guests  was  drunk  in,  cocoanut  water,  a  nut  full  of  which 
stood  at  each  plate.  Poi,  the  staple  food  of  the  natives,  was  present  in 
abundance.  This  is  made  from  a  root  or  tuber  known  as  taro,  which 
grows  in  swamps  and  has  a  leaf  resembling  our  plant,  commonly  known 
as  elephant's  ear.  This  tuber  is  ground  to  a  pulp  resembling  paste  and 
is  served  in  polished  wooden  bowls,  in  the  making  of  which  the  nativas 
i  xjiibit  great  skill.  Next  in  interest  came  the  fish  and  chicken,  wrapped 
in  the  leaves  of  a  plant  called  ti  (pronounced  like  tea)  and  cooked 
underground  by  means  of  hot  stones.  The  flavor  of  food  thus  cooked 
is  excellent.  The  crowning  glory  of  the  feast  was  a  roasted  pig,  also 
cooked  underground — and  a  toothsome  dish  it  was.  Besides  these,  there 
were  bread  fruit,  alligator  pears  and  delicacies  made  from  the  meat 
of  the  cocoanut.  The  salt,  a  native  product,  was  salmon  colored.  The 
invited  guests  were  about  equally  divided  between  the  American  and 
native  population.  But  for  the  elegant  surroundings  of  the  Young 
hotel,  the  beautifully  appointed  table  and  the  modern  dress,  it  was  such 
a  dinner  as  might  have  been  served  by  the  natives  to  the  whites  on 
the  first  Thanksgiving  after  the  New  England  missionaries  landed. 

After  a  call  upon  Governor  Carter,  a  descendant  of  the  third  gen- 
t-ration from  missionary  stock,  we  visited  the  aquarium.  When  we 
noticed  on  the  printed  program  that  we  were  scheduled  for  a  visit  to 
this  place,  it  did  not  impress  us  as  possessing  special  interest,  but  we 
had  not  been  in  the  building  long  before  we  were  all  roaring  with 
laughter  at  the  remarkable  specimens  of  the  finny  tribe  here  collected. 

Language  can  not  do  this  subject  justice.  No  words  can  accurately 
portray  what  one  here  sees.  The  fish  are  odd  in  shape  and  have  all  the 
hues  of  the  rainbow.  The  tints  are  laid  on  as  if  with  a  brush  and 
yet  no  painter  could  imitate  these — shall  we  call  them  "picture-  in  water 
color?"  Some  were  long  and  slim  :  some  short  and  thick.  One  had  a 
forehead  like  a  wedge,  another  had  a  very  blunt  nose.  Some  looked 
like  thin  slabs  of  pearl  with  iridescent  tints;  others  had  quills  like  a 
porcupine.  One  otherwise  respectable  looking  little  fellow  had  a  long 
nose  upon  the  end  of  which  was  a  fiery  glow  which  made  him  look 
like  an  old  toper;  another  of  a  deep  peacock  blue  had  a  nose  for  all 
the  world  like  a  stick  of  indigo  which  it  wiggled  as  it  swam. 

There  were  convict  fi-h  with  stripes  like  those  worn  in  penitentiaries 
and  of  these  there  were  all  sizes;  some  moving  about  slowly  and  solemn- 
ly like  hardened  criminals  and  others  sporting  about  as  if  enjoying 


HAWAII  23 

their  first  taste  of  wrongdoing.  One  variety  wore  what  looked  like  an 
orange  eolored  ribbon  tied  just  above  the  tail;  the  color  was  so  like 
the  popular  flower  of  Hawaii  that  we  were  not  surprised  to  find  that 
the  fish  was  called  the  lei.  In  one  tank  the  fish  had  a  habit  of  resting 
upon  the  rocks;  they  would  brace  themselves  with  their  tins  and  watch 
the  passersby.  At  one  time  two  were  perched  side  by  side  and  recalled 
the  familiar  picture  of  Raphael's  Cherubs.  Besides  the  fishes  there  were  • 
crabs  of  several  varieties,  all  brilliant  in  color;  one  called  the  hermit 
crab  had  a  covering  like  velvet,  with  as  delicate  a  pattern  as  ever  came 
from  the  loom.  And,  then,  there  was  the  octopus  with  the  under  side 
of  its  arms  lined  with  valve-like  mouths.  It  was  hiding  under  the 
rocks,  and  when  the  attendant  poked  it  out  with  a  stick,  it  darkened 
the  water  with  an  inky  fluid,  recalling  the  use  made  of  the  subsidized 
American  newspapers  by  the  trust  when  attacked. 

No  visitor  to  Honolulu  should  fail  to  see  the  aquarium.  Every  effort 
to  transport  these  fish  has  thus  far  failed.  To  enjoy  the  dudes,  clowns 
and  criminals  of  fishdom  one  must  see  them  in  their  native  waters. 

The  tour  of  the  island  closed  with  a  trip  to  the  beach  and  a  ride  in 
the  surf  boats.  The  native  boat  is  a  long,  narrow,  deep  canoe  steadied 
by  a  log  fastened  at  both  ends  to  the  boat  and  floating  about  ten  feet 
from  the  side.  These  canoes  will  hold  six  or  seven  persons  and  are 
propelled  by  brawny-armed  natives.  Our  party  clad  themselves  in 
bathing  suits  and,  filling  three  canoes,  were  rowed  out  some  distance 
from  the  shore.  The  natives,  expert  at  this  sport,  watch  for  a  large  wave 
and  signal  each  other  when  they  see  one  approaching,  and  then  with 
their  big  round  paddles  they  start  their  canoes  toward  the  land.  As 
the  wave  raises  the  stern  of  the  canoe,  they  bend  to  their  work,  the 
purpose  being  to  keep  the  canoe  on  the  forward  slope  of  the  wave.  It 
is  an  exciting  experience  to  ride  thus,  with  the  spray  breaking  over 
one  while  the  canoe  flies  along  before  the  wave.  Sometimes  the  boat- 
men are  too  slow  and  the  wave  sweeps  under  the  canoe  and  is  gone, 
but  as  a  rule  they  know  just  how  fast  to  work,  and  there  is  great 
rivalry  between  the  surf  riders  when  two  or  more  crews  are  racing.  It 
is  strange  that  a  form  of  sport  so  delightful  has  not  been  transported 
to  the  American  seaside  resorts.  There  is  surf  bathing  the  year  round 
at  Honolulu  and  few  beaches  can  be  found  which  can  compare  with 
Waikiki. 

The  Oahu  railroad,  which  carried  us  out  to  the  sugar  plantation, 
and  which  has  seventy  miles  of  track  on  the  island,  passes  within  sight 
of  the  Pearl  harbor,  which  is  the  only  large  inlet  in  the  islands  capable 
of  being  developed  into  a  harbor.     The  United  States  government  is 


24 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


already  dredging  this  harbor  and  preparing  it  for  both  naval  and  com- 
mercial uses.  The  Hawaiian  Islands  occupy  a  strategic  position  as  well 
as  a  position  of  great  commercial  importance,  and  as  they  are  on  a  direct 
line  between  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  and  the  Orient,  their  value  as  a 
mid-ocean  stopping  place  will  immeasurably  increase.  The  islands 
being  now  United  States  territory,  the  advantage  of  the  possession  of 
Pearl  harbor  is  accompanied  by  a  responsibility  for  its  proper  im- 
provement. No  one  can  visit  the  harbor  without  appreciating  its  im- 
portance to  our  country  and  to  the  world. 

When  we  departed  from  the  wharf  at  nightfall  to  board  the  Man- 
churia we  were  again  laden  with  flowers,  and  as  we  left  the  island,  re- 
freshed by  the  perfume  of  flowers  and  cheered  by  songs  and  farewells, 
we  bore  away  grateful  memories  of  the  day  and  of  the  hospitality  of 
the  people.  Like  all  who  see  this  Pacific  paradise,  we  resolved  to 
return  sometime  and  spend  a  part  of  a  winter  amid  its  beauties. 


HAWAIIAN   FOLIAGE. 


CHAPTER  II. 


JAPAN  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

The  eyes  of  the  world  are  on  Japan.  No  other  nation  has  ever 
made  such  progress  in  the  same  length  of  time,  and  at  no  time  in  her 
history  has  Japan  enjoyed  greater  prestige  than  she  enjoys  just  now; 
and,  it  may  be  added,  at  no  time  has  she  had  to  face  greater  problems 
than  those  which  now  confront  her. 

We  were  fortunate  in  the  time  of  our  arrival.  Baron  Komura,  the 
returning  peace  commissioner,  returned  two  days. later;  the  naval  re- 
view celebrating  the  new  Anglo-Japanese  alliance  took  place  in  Yoko- 
hama harbor  a  week  afterward,  and  this  was  followed  next  day  by  the 
reception  of  Admiral  Togo  at  Tokyo.  These  were  important  events 
and  they  gave  a  visitor  an  extraordinary  opportunity  to  see  the  people 
en  masse.  In  this  article  I  shall  deal  in  a  general  way  with  Japan 
and  her  people,  leaving  for  future  articles  her  history,  her  government, 
her  politics,  her  industries,  her  art,  her  education  and  her  religions. 

The  term  Japan  is  a  collective  title'  applied  to  four  large  islands,  that 
is.  Honshiu,  Kyushu,  Shikoku,  Hokkaido  and  about  six  hundred 
smaller  ones.  Formosa  and  the  islands  immediately  adjoining  it  are 
not  generally  included,  although  since  the  Chinese  war  they  belong 
to  Japan. 

Japan  extends  in  the  shape  of  a  crescent,  curving  toward  the  north- 
east, from  fifty  north  latitude  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  east  longi- 
tude to  twenty-one  degrees  north  latitude  and  one  hundred  and  nine- 
teen east  longitude.  The  area  is  a  little  less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  square  miles,  more  than  half  of  which  is  on  the  island 
of  Honshiu.  The  coast  line  is  broken  bv  numerous  bays  furnishing 
commodious  harbors,  the  most  important  of  which  are  at  Yokohama, 
Osaka,  Kobe,  Nagasaki,  Kagoshima  and  Hakodate.  The  islands  are 
so  mountainous  that  only  about  one-twelfth  the  area  is  capable  of 
cultivation.  Although  Formosa  has  a  mountain,  Mt.  Niitaka  (some- 
times called    Mt.    Morrison)    which    is    two    thousand    feet    higher, 

25 


26 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Fujiyama  is  the  highest  mountain  in  Japan  proper.    It  reaches  a  height 
of  12,365  feet. 

Fuji  (Yama  is  the  Japanese  word  for  mountain)  is  called  the  Sacred 
Mountain  and  is  an  object  of  veneration  among  the  Japanese.  And 
well  it  may  be,  for  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  on  earth  a  more  symmetri- 
cal mountain  approaching  it  in  height.  Rising  in  the  shape  of  a 
perfect  cone,  with  its  summit  crowned  with  snow  throughout  nearly  the 


A  PICTURESQUE  VIEW. 


entire  year  and  visible  from  sea  level,  it  is  one  of  the  inost  sublime 
of  all  the  works  of  nature.  Mt.  Ranier,  as  they  say  at  Seattle,  or 
Tacoma,  as  it  is  called  in  the  city  of  that  name,  and  Popocatapetl,  near 
Mexico's  capital,  are  the  nearest  approach  to  Fuji,  so  far  as  the  writers 
observation  goes.  Pictures  of  Fuji  are  to  be  found  on  everything;  they 
are  painted  on  -ilk.  embroidered  on  screens,  worked  on  velvet,  carved 
in   wood  and   wrought  in  bronze  and  stone.     We  saw  it  from  Lake 


JAPAN    AND    HER    PEOPLE  27 

Hakone,  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water  some  three  thousand  feet  above  the 
ocean.  The  foot  hills  which  surround  the  lake  seem  to  open  at  one 
point  in  order  to  give  a  more  extended  view  of  the  sloping  sides  of  this 
sleeping  giant. 

And  speaking  of  Hakone,  it  is  one  of  the  beauty  spots  of  Japan. 
On  an  island  in  this  lake  is  the  summer  home  of  the  crown  prince. 
1  lakone  is  reached  by  a  six-mile  ride  from  Miyanoshita,  a  picturesque 
little  village  some  sixty  miles  west  of  Yokohama,  There  are  here  hot 
springs  and  all  the  delights  of  a  mountain  retreat.  One  of  the  best 
modern  hotels  in  Japan,  the  Fujiya,  is  located  here,  and  one  of  its 
earliest  guests  was  General  Grant  when  he  made  his  famous  tour  around 
the  world.  The  road  from  the  hotel  to  Hakone  leads  by  foaming 
mountain  streams,  through  closely  cultivated  valleys  and  over  a  range 
from  which  the  coast  line  can  be  seen. 

Nikko,  about  a  hundred  miles  north  of  Tokyo,  and  Nara  about  thirty 
miles  from  Kyoto,  are  also  noted  for  their  natural  scenery,  but  as  these 
places  are  even  more  renowned  because  of  the  temples  located  there 
they  will  be  described  later.  The  inland  sea  which  separates  the  larger 
islands  of  Japan,  and  is  itself  studded  with  smaller  islands,  adds  inter- 
est to  the  travel  from  port  to  port.  Many  of  these  islands  are  inhabited, 
and  the  tiny  fields  which  perch  upon  their  sides  give  evidence  of  an 
ever  present  thrift.  Some  of  the  islands  are  barren  peaks  jutting  a  few 
hundred  feet  above  the  waves,  while  some  are  so  small  as  to  look  like 
hay  stacks  in  a  submerged  meadow. 

All  over  Japan  one  is  impressed  with  the  patient  industry  of  the 
people.  If  the  Hollanders  have  reclaimed  the  ocean's  bed,  the  people 
of  Japan  have  encroached  upon  the  mountains.  They  have  broadened 
the  valleys  and  terraced  the  hill  sides.  Often  the  diminutive  fields  are 
held  in  place  by  stone  walls,  while  the  different  levels  are  furnished 
with  an  abundance  of  water  from  the  short  but  numerous  rivers. 

The  climate  is  very  much  diversified,  ranging  from  almost  tropical 
heat  in  Formosa  to  arctic  co*ld  in  the  northern  islands;  thus  Japan  can 
produce  almost  every  kind  of  food.  Her  population  in  1903  was  es- 
timated at  nearly  forty-seven  millions,  an  increase  of  about  thirteen 
and  a  half  millions  since  1873.  While  Tokyo  has  a  population  of 
about  one  and  a  half  millions,  Osaka  a  population  of  nearly  a  million, 
Kyoto  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  Yokohama  three  hundred 
thousand,  and  Kobe  and  Nagoya  about  the  same,  and  there  are  several 
other  large  cities  of  less  size,  still  a  large  majority  of  the  population  is 
rural  and  the  farming  communities  have  a  decided  preponderance  in 


28  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

the  federal  congress,  or  diet.  The  population,  however,  is  increasing 
more  rapidly  in  the  cities  than  in  the  country. 

The  stature  of  the  Japanese  is  below  that  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  and  northern  Europe.  The  average  height  of  the  men 
in  the  army  is  about  five  feet  two  inches,  and  the  average  weight  be- 
tween a  hundred  and  twenty  and  a  hundred  and  thirty  pounds.  It 
looks  like  burlesque  opera  to  see,  as  one  does  occasionally,  two  or  three 
little  Japanese  soldiers  guarding  a  group  of  big  burly  Russian  pris- 
oners. 

The  opinion  is  quite  general  that  the  habit  which  the  Japanese  form 
from  infancy  of  sitting  on  the  floor  with  their  feet  under  them,  tends 
to  shorten  the  lower  limbs.  In  all  the  schools  the  children  are  now 
required  to  sit  upon  benches  and  whether  from  this  cause  or  some  other, 
the  average  height  of  the  males,  as  shown  by  yearly  medical  exami- 
nation, is  gradually  increasing.  Although  undersize,  the  people  are 
sturdy  and  muscular  and  have  the  appearance  of  robust  health.  In 
color  they  display  all  shades  of  brown,  from  a  very  light  to  a  very 
dark.     While  the  oblique  eye  is  common,  it  is  by  no  means  universal. 

The  conveyance  which  is  most  popular  is  the  jinrikisha,  a  narrow 
seated,  two  wheeled  top  buggy  with  shafts,  joined  with  a  cross  piece 
at  the  end.  These  are  drawn  by  "rikisha  men"  of  whom  there  are 
several  hundred  thousand  in  the  empire.  The  'rikisha  was  invented 
by  a  Methodist  missionary  some  thirty  years  ago  and  at  once  sprang 
into  popularity.  When  the  passenger  is  much  above  average  weight, 
or  when  the  journey  is  over  a  hilly  road,  a  pusher  is  employed  and  in 
extraordinary  cases  two  pushers.  It  is  astonishing  what  speed  these 
men  can  make.  One  of  the  governors  informed  me  that  'rikisha  men 
sometimes  cover  seventy-five  miles  of  level  road  in  a  day.  They  will 
take  up  a  slow  trot  and  travel  for  several  miles  without  a  break.  We 
had  occasion  to  go  to  a  village  fifteen  miles  from  Kagoshima  and 
crossed  ;i  low  mountain  range  of  perhaps  two  thousand  feet.  The  trip 
each  way  occupied  about  four  hours;  each  'rikisha  had  two  pushers 
and  the  men  had  three  hours  rest  at  noon.  They  felt  so  fresh  at  the 
end  of  the  trip  that  they  came  an  hour  later  to  take  us  to  a  dinner 
engagement.  Tn  the  mountainous  regions  the  chair  and  kago  take  the 
place  of  the  'rikisha.  The  chair  rests  on  two  bamboo  poles  and  is  car- 
ried by  four  men  ;  the  kago  is  suspended  from  one  pole,  like  a  swinging 
hammock,  and  is. carried  by  two.  Of  the  two,  the  chair  is  much  the 
more  comfortable  for  the  tourist.  The  basha  is  a  small  one-horse  omni- 
bus which  will  hold  four  or  six  small  people;  it  is  used  as  a  sort  of  stage 
between  villages.     A  large  part  of  the  hauling  of  merchandise  is  done 


30  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

by  men,  horses  being  rarely  seen.  In  fact,  in  some  of  the  cities  there 
are  more  oxen  than  horses,  and  many  of  them  wear  straw  sandals  to 
protect  their  hoofs  from  the  hard  pavement.  The  lighter  burdens  are 
carried  in  buckets  or  baskets,  suspended  from  the  ends  of  a  pole  and 
balanced  upon  the  shoulder. 

In  the  country  the  demand  for  land  is  so  great  that  most  of  fhe  roads 
are  too  narrow  for  any  other  vehicle  than  a  hand  cart.  The  highways 
connecting  the  cities  and  principal  towns,  however,  are  of  good  width, 
are  substantially  constructed  and  well  drained,  and  have  massive  stone 
bridges  spanning  the  streams. 

The  clothing  of  the  men  presents  an  interesting  variety.  In  official 
circles  the  European  and  American  dress  prevails.  The  silk  hat  and 
Prince  Albert  coat  are  in  evidence  at  all  day  functions,  and  the  dress 
suit  at  evening  parties.  The  western  style  of  dress  is  also  worn  by  many 
business  men,  professional  men  and  soldiers,  and  by  students  after  they 
reach  the  middle  school,  which  corresponds  to  our  high  school.  The 
change  is  taking  place  more  rapidly  among  the  young  than  among  the 
adults  and  is  more  marked  in  the  city  than  in  the  country.  In  one  of 
the  primary  schools  in  Kyoto,  I  noticed  that  more  than  half  of  the  chil- 
dren gave  evidence  of  the  transition  in  dress.  The  change  is  also  more 
noticeable  in  the  seaport  cities  than  in  the  interior.  At  Kyoto,  an  in- 
land city,  the  audience  wore  the  native  dress  and  all  were  seated  on 
mats  on  the  floor,  while  the  next  night  at  Osaka,  a  seaport,  all  sat 
on  chairs  and  nearly  all  wore  the  American  dress.  At  the  Osaka 
meeting  some  forty  Japanese  young  ladies  from  the  Congregational 
college  sang  "My  Country  'Tis  of  Thee"  in  English. 

The  shopkeepers  and  clerks  generally  wear  the  native  clothing, 
which  consists  of  a  divided  skirt  and  a  short  kimono  held  in  place  by 
a  sash.  The  laboring  men  wear  loose  knee  breeches  and  a  shirt  in 
warm  weather;  in  cold  weather  they  wear  tight  fitting  breeches  that 
reach  to  the  ankles  and  a  loose  coat.  In  the  country  the  summer 
clothing  is  even  more  scanty.  I  saw  a  number  of  men  working  in 
the  field  with  nothing  on  but  a  cloth  about  the  loins,  and  it  was 
early  in  November,  when  I  found  a  light  overcoat  comfortable. 

A  pipe  in  a  wooden  case  and  a  tobacco  pouch  are  often  carried  in 
the  belt  or  sash,  for  smoking  is  almost  universal  among  both  men  and 
women. 

Considerable  latitude  is  allowed  in  footwear.  The  leather  shoe  has 
kept  pace  with  the  coat  and  vest,  but  where  the  native  dress  is  worn, 
the  sandal  is  almost  always  used.  Among  the  well-to-do  the  foot  is 
encased  in  a  short  sock  made  of  white  cotton  cloth,  which  is  kept 


JAPAN    AND    HER    PEOPLE 


31 


scrupulously  clean.  The  sock  has  a  separate  division  for  the  great 
toe,  the  sandal  being  held  upon  the  foot  by  a  cord  which  runs  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  toes  and,  dividing,  fastens  on  each  side 
of  the  sandal.  These  sandals  are  of  wood  and  rest  upon  two  blocks 
an  inch  or  more  high,  the  front  one  sloping  toward  the  toe.  The 
sandal  hangs  loosely  upon  the  foot  and  drags  upon  the  pavement 


A    JAPANESE    FAMILY. 


with  each  step.  The  noise  made  by  a  crowd  at  a  railroad  station 
rises  above  the  roar  of  the  train.  In  muddy  weather  a  higher  sandal 
is  used  which  raises  the  feet  three  or  four  inches  from  the  ground, 
and  the  wearers  stalk  about  as  if  on  stilts.  The  day  laborers  wear 
a  cheaper  sandal  made  of  woven  rope  or  straw.    The  footwear  above 


3*2  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

described  comes  down  from  time  immemorial,  but  there  is  coming 
into  use  among  the  'rikisha  men  a  modern  kind  of  footwear  which 
is  a  compromise  between  the  new  and  the  old.  It  is  a  jdark  cloth, 
low-topped  gaiter  with  a  rubber  sole  and  no  heel.  These  have  the 
separate  pocket  for  the  great  toe.  The  sandals  are  left  at  the  door. 
At  public  meetings  in  Japanese  halls  the  same  custom  is  followed, 
the  sandals  being  checked  at  the  door  as  hats  and  wraps  are  in  our 
country.  On  approaching  a  meeting  place  the  speaker  can  form 
some  estimate  of  the  size  of  the  audience  by  the  size  of  the  piles  of 
sandals  on  the  outside.  After  taking  cold  twice,  I  procured  a  pair 
of  felt  slippers  and  carried  them  with  me,  and  the  other  members  of 
the  family  did  likewise. 

The  women  still  retain  the  primitive  dress.  About  1884  an  at- 
tempt was  made  by  the  ladies  of  the  court  to  adopt  the  European 
dress  and  quite  a  number  of  women  in  official  circles  purchased  gowns 
in  London,  Paris  and  the  United  States,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of 
their  sisters  abroad.  (Mrs.  Cleveland  joined  in  a  written  remon- 
strance which  was  sent  from  the  United  States.)  But  the  spell  was 
broken  in  a  very  few  months  and  the  women  outside  of  the  court 
circles  returned  to  the  simpler  and  more  becoming  native  garb.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  details  regarding  the  female  toilet,  as 
the  magazines  have  made  the  world  familiar  with  the  wide  sleeved, 
loose  fitting  kimono  with  its  convenient  pockets.  The  children  wear 
bright  colors,  but  the  adults  adopt  more  quiet  shades. 

The  shape  of  the  garment  never  changes,  but  the  color  does.  This 
season  grey  has  been  the  correct  shade.  Feminine  pride  shows  itself 
in  the  obi,  a  broad  sash  or  belt  tied  in  a  very  stiff  and  incomprehen- 
sible bow  at  the  back.  The  material  used  for  the  obi  is  often  bright 
in  color  and  of  rich  and  expensive  brocades.  A  wooden  disc  is  often 
concealed  within  the  bow  of  the-  obi  to  keep  it  in  shape  and  also  to 
brace  the  back.  Two  neck  cloths  are  usually  worn,  folded  inside  the 
kimono  to  protect  the  bare  throat.  These  harmonize  with  the  obi 
in  color  and  give  a  dainty  finish  to  the  costume.  As  the  kimono  is 
quite  narrow  in  the  skirt,  the  women  take  very  short  steps.  This 
-hort  step,  coupled  with  the  dragging  of  the  sandals,  makes  the 
women's  gait  quite  unlike  the  free  stride  of  the  American  woman. 
In  the  middle  and  higher  schools  the  girls  wear  a  pleated  skirt  over 
the  kimono.  These  are  uniform  for  each  school  and  wine  color  is 
the  shade  now  prevailing.  The  men  and  women  of  the  same  class 
wear  practically  the  same  kind  of  shoes. 

Next  to  the  obi,  the  hair  receives  the  greatest  attention  and  it  is 


JAPAN    AND    HER    PEOPLE  33 

certainly  arranged  with  elaborate  care.  The  process  is  so  compli- 
cated that  a  hair  dresser  is  employed  once  or  twice  a  week  and  beetle's 
oil  is  used  in  many  instances  to  make  the  hair  smooth  and  glossy.  At 
night  the  Japanese  women  place  a  very  hard,  round  cushion  under 
the  neck  in  order  to  keep  the  hair  from  "becoming  disarranged.  The 
stores  now  have  on  sale  air  pillows,  which  are  more  comfortable  than 
the  wooden  ones  formerly  used.  The  vexing  question  of  millinery 
is  settled  by  dispensing  with  hats  entirely.  Among  the  poorer  classes 
the  hat  is  seldom  used  by  the  men. 

More  interesting  in  appearance  than  either  the  men  or  women  are 
the  children — and  I  may  add  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  race  suicide 
in  Japan.  They  are  to  be  seen  everywhere,  and  a  good  natured  lot 
they  are.  The  babies  are  carried  on  the  back  of  the  mother  or  an 
older  child,  and  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  the  baby  fast  asleep  while 
the  bearer  goes  about  her  work.  Of  the  tens  of  thousands  of  babies 
we  have  seen,  scarcely  a  half  dozen  have  been  crying.  The  younger 
children  sometimes  have  the  lower  part  of  the  head  shaved,  leaving 
a  cap  of  long  hair  on  the  crown  of  the  head.  Occasionally  a  spot  is 
shaved  in  the  center  of  this  cap.  After  seeing  the  children  on  the 
streets,  one  can  better  appreciate  the  Japanese  dolls,  which  look  so 
strange  to  American  children. 

Cleanliness  is  the  passion  of  the  Japanese.  The  daily  bath  is  a 
matter  of  routine,  and  among  the  middle  classes  there  are  probably 
more  who  go  above  this  average  than  below.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
city  of  Tokyo  there  are  over  eleven  hundred  public  baths,  and  it  is 
estimated  that  five  hundred  thousand  baths  are  taken  daily  at  these 
places.  The  usual  charge  is  one  and  a  quarter  cents  (in  our  money) 
for  adults  and  one  cent  for  children.  One  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
Japan  declares  that  a  Japanese  boy,  coming  unexpectedly  into  the 
possession  of  a  few  cents,  will  be  more  apt  to  spend  it  on  a  bath 
than  on  something  to  eat  or  drink.  The  private  houses  have  baths 
wherever  the  owners  can  afford  them.  The  bath  tub  is  made  like 
a  barrel — sometimes  of  stone,  but  more  often  of  wood — and  is  sunk 
below  the  level  of  the  floor.  The  favorite  temperature'  is  one  hundred 
and  ten  degrees,  and  in  the  winter  time  the  bath  tub  often  takes  the 
place  of  a  stove.  In  fact,  at  the  hot  springs  people  have  been  known 
to  remain  in  the  bath  for  days  at  a  time.  I  do  not  vouch  for 
the  statement,  but  Mr.  Basil  H.  Chamberlain  in  his  book  entitled 
"Things  Japanese,"  says  that  when  he  was  at  one  of  these  hot  springs 
"the  caretaker  of  the  establishment,  a  hale  old  man  of  eighty,  used 
to  stay  in  the  bath  during  the  entire  winter."     Until  recently  the 


34  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

men  and  women  bathed  promiscuously  in  the  public  baths;  occasion- 
ally, but  not  always,  a  string  separated  the  bathors.  Now  different 
apartments  must  be  provided. 

The  Japanese  are  a  very  polite  people.  They  have  often  been 
likened  to  the  French  in  this  respect — the  French  done  in  bronze, 
so  to  >peak.  They  bow  very  low,  and  in  exchanging  salutations  and 
farewells  sometimes  bow  several  times.  AVhen  the  parties  are  seated 
on  the  floor,  they  rise  to  the  knees  and  bow  the  head  to  the  floor 
Servants,  when  they  bring  food  to  those  who  are  seated  on  the  floor, 
drop  upon  their  knees  and,  bowTing,  present  the  tray. 

In  speaking  of  the  people  I  desire  to  emphasize  one  conclusion  that 
has  been  drawn  from  my  observations  here,  viz.,  that  I  have  never 
seen  a  more  quiet,  orderly  or  self-restrained  people.  I  have  visited 
all  of  the  larger  cities  and  several  of  the  smaller  ones,  in  all  parts 
of  the  islands ;  have  mingled  in  the  crowds  that  assembled  at  Tokyo 
and  at  Yokohama  at  the  time  of  the  reception  to  Togo  and  during 
the  naval  review;  have  ridden  through  the  streets  in  day  time  and 
at  night;  and  have  walked  when  the  entire  street  was  a  mass  of 
humanity.  I  have  not  seen  one  drunken  native  or  witnessed  a  fight 
or  altercation  of  any  kind.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  when  it 
is  remembered  that  these  have  been  gala  days  when  the  entire  popu- 
lation turned  out  to  display  its  patriotism  and  to  enjoy  a  vacation. 

The  Japanese  house  deserves  a  somewhat  extended  description.  It 
is  built  of  wood,  is  one  story  in  height,  unpainted  and  has  a  thatched 
or  a  tile  roof.  The  thatched  roof  is  cheaper,  but  far  less  durable. 
Some  of  the  temples  and  palaces  have  a  roof  constructed  like  a 
thatched  roof  in  which  the  bark  of  the  arbor  vitse  is  used  in  place 
of  grass  or  straw.  These  roofs  are  often  a  foot  thick  and  are  quite 
imposing.  In  cities  most  buildings  are  roofed  with  tile  of  a  pattern 
which  has  been  used  for  hundreds  of  years.  Shingles  are  sometimes 
used  on  newer  structures,  but  they  are  not  nearly  so  large  as  our 
»1 1 ingles,  and  instead  of  being  fastened  with  nails,  are  held  in  place 
by  wire.  On  the  business  streets  the  houses  are  generally  two  stories, 
the  merchant  living  above  the  store.  The  public  buildings  are  now 
being  constructed  of  brick  and  stone  and  modeled  after  the  build- 
ings of  America  and  Europe.  But  returning  to  the  native  architec- 
ture— the  house  is  really  little  more  than  a  frame,  for  the  dividing 
walls  are  sliding  screens,  and,  except  in  cold  weather,  the  outside 
wall.-  are  taken  out  during  the  day.  The  rooms  open  into  each  other, 
the  hallway  extending  around  the  outside  instead  of  going  through 
the  center.     Frail  sliding  partitions  covered  with  paper  separate  the 


JAPAN    AND    SEE    PEOPLE  35 

rooms  from  the  hall,  glass  being  almost  unknown.  The  floor  is  cov- 
ered with  a  heavy  matting  two  inches  thick,  and  as  these  mats  are 
of  uniform  size,  six  feet  by  three,  the  room-  are  made  to  lit  the  mats, 
twelve  feet  square  being  the  common  size.  As  the  walls  of  the  room 
are  not  stationary,  there  is  no  place  for  the  hanging  of  pictures, 
although  the  sliding  walls  are  often  richly  decorated.  Such  pictures 
as  the  house  contains  are  painted  on  silk  or  paper  and  are  rolled  up 
when  not  on  exhibition.  At  one  end  of  the  room  used  for  company. 
there  is  generally  a  raised  platform  upon  which  a  pot  of  flowers  or 
other  ornament  is  placed,  and  above  this  there  are  one  or  two  shelves, 
the  upper  one  being  inclosed  in  sliding  doors.  There  are  no  bed- 
steads, the  beds  being  made  upon  the  floor  and  rolled  up  during  the 
day.  There  are  no  tables  or  chairs.  There  is  usually  a  diminutive 
desk  about  a  foot  high  upon  which  writing  material  is  placed.  The 
writing  is  done  with  a  brush  and  the  writing  case  or  box  containing 
the  brush,  ink-,  etc.,  has  furnished  the  lacquer  industry  with  one  of 
the  most  popular  articles  for  ornamentation.  The  people  sit  upon 
cushions  upon  the  floor  and  their  meals  are  served  upon  trays. 

Japanese  food  is  so  different  from  American  food  that  it  takes  the 
visitor  some  time  to  acquire  a  fondness  for  it,  more  time  than  the 
tourist  usually  has  at  his  disposal.  With  the  masses  rice  is  the  staple 
article  of  diet,  an.d  it  is  the  most  palatable  native  dish  that  the  for- 
eigner finds  here.  The  white  rice  raised  in  Japan  is  superior  in 
quality  to  some  of  the  rice  raised  in  China,  and  the  farmers  are 
often  compelled  to  sell  good  rice  and  buy  the  poorer  quality.  Millet, 
which  is  even  cheaper,  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  rice. 

As  might  be  expected  in  a  seagirt  land,  fish,  lobster,  crab,  shrimp, 
etc.,  take  the  place  of  meat,  the  fish  being  often  served  raw.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  is  sometimes  brought  to  the  table  alive  and  carved 
in  the  presence  of  the  guests.  Sweet  potatoes,  pickled  radishes,  mush- 
rooms, sea  weed,  barley  and  fruit  give  variety  to  the  diet.  The  rad- 
ishes are  white  and  enormous  in  size.  I  saw  some  which  were  two 
feet  long  and  two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter.  Another  variety 
is  conical  in  form  and  six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter.  I  heard  of 
a  kind  of  turnip  which  grows  so  large  that  two  of  them  make  a  load 
for  the  small  Japanese  horses.  The  chicken  is  found  quite  generally 
throughout  the  country,  but  is  small  like  the  fighting  breeds  or  the 
Leghorns.  Ducks,  also,  are  plentiful.  Milk  is  seldom  used  except  in 
case  of  sickness,  and  butter  is  almost  unknown  among;  the  masse-. 

But  the  subject  of  food  led  me  away  from  the  house.  No  descrip- 
tion would  be  complete  which  did  not  mention  the  little  gate  through 


36 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


which  the  tiny  door  yard  is  entered;  the  low  doorway  upon  which 
the  foreigner  constantly  bumps  his  head,  and  the  little  garden  at  the 
rear  of  the  house  with  its  fish  pond,  its  miniature  mountains,  its 
climbing  vines  and  fragrant  flowers.  The  dwarf  trees  are  cultivated 
here,  and  they  are  a  delight  to  the  eye;  gnarled  and  knotted  pines 
two  feet  high  and  thirty  or  forty  years  old  are  not  uncommon.  Little 
maple  trees  are  seen  here  fifty  years  old  and  looking  all  of  their  age. 
but  only  twelve  inches  in  height.  We  saw  a  collection  of  these  dwarf 
trees,  several  hundred  in  number,  and  one  could  almost  imagine 
himself  transported  to  the  home  of  the  brownies.  Some  of  these 
trees  bear  fruit  hidicrously  large  for  the  size  of  the  tree.  The  houses 
are  heated  by  charcoal  fires  in  open  urns  or  braziers,  but  an  American 
would  not  be  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  heat  supplied.  These 
braziers  are  moved  about  the  room  as  convenience  requires  and  supply 
heat  for  the  inevitable  tea, 

But  I  have  reached  the  limit  of  this  article  and  must  defer  until 
the  next  a  description  of  the  Japanese  customs  as  we  found  them  in 
the  homes  which  we  were  privileged  to  visit. 


DWARF    MAPLE   TREE,    FIFTY    YEARS   OLD 


CHAPTER  III. 

JAPANESE   CUSTOMS   AND    HOSPITALITY. 

Every  nation  has  its  customs,  its  way  of  doing  things,  and  a  nation's 
customs  and  ways  are  likely  to  be  peculiar  in  proportion  as  the  nation 
is  isolated.  In  Japan,  therefore,  one  would  expect  to  see  many  strange 
things,  and  the  expectation  is  more  than  realized.  In  some  things 
their  customs  are  exactly  the  opposite  of  ours.  In  writing  they  place 
their  characters  in  vertical  lines  and  move  from  right  to  left,  while 
our  letters  are  arranged  on  horizontal  lines  and  read  from  left  to 
right.  Their  books  begin  where  ours  end  and  end  where  ours  begin. 
The  Japanese  carpenters  pull  the  saw  and  plane  toward  them,  while 
ours  push  them  from  them.  The  Japanese  mounts  his  steed  from 
the  right,  while  the  American  mounts  from  the  left ;  Japanese  turn 
to  the  left,  Americans  to  the  right,  Japanese  write  it  "Smith  John 
Mr.,"  while  we  say  "Mr.  John  Smith."  At  dinners  in  Japan  wine 
is  served  hot  and  soup  cold,  and  the  yard  is  generally  at  the  back 
of  the  house  instead  of  the  front. 

The  Japanese  wear  white  for  mourning  and  often  bury  their  dead 
in  a  sitting  posture.  The  death  is  sometimes  announced  as  occurring 
at  the  house  when  it  actually  occurred  elsewhere,  and  the  date  of  the 
death  is  fixed  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  family.  This  is  partly 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Japanese  like  to  have  the  deatli  appear  as 
occurring  at  home.  Sometimes  funeral  services  are  held  over  a  part 
of  the  body.  An  American  lady  whose  Japanese  maid  died  while 
attending  her  mistress  in  the  United  States,  reports  an  incident  wrorth 
relating.  The  lady  cabled  her  husband  asking  instructions  in  regard 
to  the  disposition  of  the  body.  He  conferred  wdth  the  family  of  the 
deceased  and  cabled  back  directing  the  wife  to  bring  a  lock  of  the  hair 
and  the  false  teeth  of  the  departed.  The  instructions  were  followed 
and  upon  the  delivery  of  these  precious  relics,  they  were  interred 
with  the  usual  ceremonies. 

The  handshake  is  uncommon  even  among  Japanese  politicians, 
except  in  their  intercourse  with  foreigners.     When  Baron   Komura 

37 


346306 


38 


TILE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


returned  from  the  peace  conference  in  which  he  played  so  important 
a  part,  I  was  anxious  to  witness  his  landing,  partly  out  of  respect  to 
the  man  and  partly  out  of  curiosity  to  see  whether  the  threatened 
manifestations  of  disapproval  would  be  made  by  the  populace,  it  hav- 
ing been  rumored  that  thousands  of  death  lanterns  wore  being  pre- 
pared for  a  hostile  parade.  (It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  threats  did 
not  materialize  and  that  no  expressions  of  disapproval  were  heard 
after  his  arrival.)  I  found  it  impossible  to  learn  either  the  hour  or 
the  landing  place,  and,  despairing  of  being  present,  started  to  visit 


T           Ti 

~~ 

I  j 

m**G*l't*F^A       1'— I 

-  v^v  a 

'  ■  •'                                        IMF  > 

1 

JAPANESE   GEISHA    GIRLS. 

a  furniture  factory  to  inspect  some  wood  carving.  Consul-General 
Jones  of  Dalney  (near  Port  Arthur),  then  visiting  in  Yokohama, 
was  my  escort  and,  as  good  fortune  would  have  it,  we  passed  near  the 
Detached  Palace.  Dr.  Jones,  hearing  that  the  landing  might  be  made 
there,  obtained  permission  for  us  to  await  the  peace  commissioner's 
coming.  We  found  Marquis  Ito  there  and  a  half  dozen  other  officials. 
A-  Baron  Komura  did  not  arrive  for  half  an  hour,  it  gave  me  the 
best  opportunity  that  I  could  have  had  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
Marquis,  who  is  tie-  mosl   influential   man    in  Japan   at  present.    He 


CUSTOMS    AND    HOSPITALITY  39 

is  President  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Elder  Statesmen  and  is  credited 
with  being  the  most  potent  factor  in  the  shaping  of  Japan's  demands 
at  Portsmouth. 

When  Karon  Komura  stepped  from  the  launch  upon  t lie  soil  of 
his  native  land,  he  was  met  by  Marquis  Ito,  and  each  greeted  the 
other  with  a  low  bow.  The  baron  then  saluted  the  other  officials  in 
the  same  manner  and,  turning,  bowed'to  a  group  of  Japanese  ladies 
representing  the  Woman's  Patriotic  Association.  Dr.  .Jones  and  T  stood 
some  feet  in  the  rear  of  the  officials  and  were  greeted  by  the  baron 
after  he  had  saluted  his  own  countrymen.  He  extended  his  hand  to 
us.  The  incident  is  mentioned  as  illustrating  the  difference  in  the 
manner  of  greeting.  For  who  would  be  more  apt  to  clasp  hands, 
if  that  were  customary,  than  these  two  distinguished  statesmen  whose 
personalities  are  indissolubly  linked  together  in  the  conclusion  of  a 
world  renowned  treaty? 

A  brief  account  of  the  reception  of  Admiral  Togo  may  be  inter- 
esting to  those  who  read  this  article.  While  at  Tokyo  I  visited  the 
city  hall,  at  the  invitation  of  the  mayor  and  city  council.  While 
there  Mayor  Ozaki  informed  me  that  he.  in  company  with  the  mayors 
of  the  other  cities,  would  tender  Admiral  Togo  a  reception  on  the 
following  Tuesday,  and  invited  me  to  be  present.  Of  course  I  accepted, 
because  it  afforded  a  rare  opportunity  to  observe  Japanese  cus- 
toms as  well  as  to  see  a  large  concourse  of  people.  As  I  witnessed 
the  naval  review  in  Yokohama  the  day  before  and  the  illumination 
at  night,  I  did  not  reach  Tokyo  until  the  morning  of  the  reception, 
and  this  led  me  into  considerable  embarrassment.  On  the  train  I 
met  a  Japanese  gentleman  who  could  speak  English.  He  was  kind 
enough  to  find  me  a  'rikisha  man  and  a  pusher  and  to  instruct  them 
to  take  me  at  once  to  Uyeno  Park.  He  then  left  me  and  the  'rikisha 
men  followed  his  instructions  to  the  letter.  They  had  not  proceeded 
far  when  I  discovered  that  Admiral  Togo  had  arrived  on  the  same 
train  and  that  a  long  procession  had  formed  to  conduct  him  to  the 
park.  Before  I  knew  it,  I  was  whisked  past  an  escort  of  distinguished 
citizens  who,  clad  in  Prince  Alberts  and  silk  hats,  followed  the  car- 
riages, and  then  I  found  my  'rikisha  drawn  into  an  open  space 
between  two  carriages.  Grabbing  the  'rikisha  man  in  front  of  me,  I 
told  him  by  word  and  gesture  to  get  out  of  the  line  of  the  procession. 
He  could  not  understand  English,  and  evidently  thinking  that  I 
wanted  to  get  nearer  the  front,  he  ran  past  a  few  carriages  and  then 
dropped  into  another  opening.  Again  I  got  him  out  of  the  line, 
employing  more  emphasis  than  before,  only  to  be  carried  -till  nearer 


40 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


the  front.  After  repeated  changes  of  position,  all  the  time  employing 
such  sign  language  as  I  could  command  and  attempting  to  convey  by 
different  tones  of  voice  suggestions  that  I  could  not  translate  into 
language,  I  at  last  reached  the  head  of  the  procession.  And  the 
'rikisha  men,  as  if  satisfied  with  the  success  of  their  efforts,  paused 
to  await  the  starting  of  the  line.  I  tried  to  inform  them  that  I  was 
not  a  part  of  the  procession;  that  I  wanted  to  get  on  another  street; 


YUKIO     OZAKI MAYOR     OF     TOKYO 

that  they  should  take  me  to  the  park  by  some  other  route  and  do  so 
at  once.  They  at  last  comprehended  sufficiently  to  leave  the  carriages 
and  take  up  a  rapid  gait,  but  get  off  of  the  street  they  would  not.  For 
three  miles  they  drew  me  between  two  rows  of  expectant  people,  whose 
eyes  peered  down  the  street  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  great  admiral, 
who,  as  the  commander  of  the  Japanese  navy,  has  won  such  signal 
victories  over  the  Russians.     I  ?aw  a  million  people;  they  represented 


CUSTOMS    AND    HOSPITALITY  41 

every  class,  age  and  condition.  I  saw  more  people  than  I  ever  saw 
before  in  a  single  day.  Old  men  and  old  women,  feeble,  but  strength- 
ened by  their  enthusiasm;  middle  aged  men  and  women  whose  son- 
had  shared  in  the  dangers  and  in  the  triumphs  of  the  navy;  students 
from  the  boys'  schools  and  students  from  the  girls'  schools  with  flags 
and  banners,  little  children  dressed  in  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow- 
all  were  there.  And  1  could  imagine  that  each  one  of  them  old 
enough  to  think,  was  wondering  why  a  foreigner  was  intruding  upon 
a  street  which  the  police  had  cleared  for  a  triumphal  procession,  [f 
some  one  had  angrily  caught  my  'rikisha  men  and  thrust  them 
through  the  crowd  to  a  side  street  I  should  not  have  complained— 
I  would  even  have  felt  relieved,  but  no  one  molested  them  or  me  and 
I  reached  the  park  some  minutes  ahead  of  the  admiral.  How  glad 
I  was  to  alight,  and  how  willingly  I  rewarded  the  smiles  of  the  'rikisha 
men  with  a  bonus — for  had  they  not  done  their  duty  as  they  under- 
stood it?  And  had  they  not  also  given  me,  in  spite  of  my  protests, 
such  a  view  of  the  people  of  Tokyo  as  I  could  have  obtained  in  no 
other  way? 

At  the  park  I  luckily  fell  in  with  some  of  the  councilmen  whom 
I  had  met  before  and  they  took  me  in  hand.  I  saw  the  procession 
arrive,  heard  the  banzais  (the  Japanese  cheers)  as  they  rolled  along 
the  street,  keeping  pace  with  Togo's  carriage,  and  I  witnessed  the 
earnest,  yet  always  orderly,  rejoicing  of  the  crowd  that  had  con- 
gregated at  the  end  of  the  route.  When  the  procession  passed  by 
us  into  the  park  the  members  of  the  city  council  fell  in  behind  the 
carriages,  and  I  with  them.  When  we  reached  the  stand,  a  seal  was 
tendered  me  on  the  front  row  from  which  the  extraordinary  cere- 
monies attending  the  reception  could  be  witnessed.  Mayor  Ozaki,  the 
presiding  officer,  escorted  Admiral  Togo  to  a  raised  platform,  ami 
there  the  two  took  seats  on  little  camp  stools  some  ten  feet  apart,  facing 
each  other,  with  their  sides  to  the  audience  and  to  those  on  the  stand. 
After  a  moment's  delay,  a  priest,  clad  in  his  official  robe-,  approached 
with  cake  and  a  teacup  on  a  tray  and,  kneeling,  placed  them  before 
the  admiral.  Tea  was  then  brought  in  a  long  handled  pot  and  poured 
into  the  cup.  After  the  distinguished  guest  had  partaken  of  these 
refreshments,  the  mayor  arose  and  read  an  address  of  welcome,  lb- 
has  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  best  orators  in  the  empire,  and 
his  part  was  doubly  interesting  to  me.  As  he  confined  himself  to  his 
manuscript,  I  could  not  judge  of  his  delivery,  but  his  voice  was  pleas- 
ing and  his  manner  natural.  The  address  recited  the  exploits  of  Ad- 
miral Togo  and  gave  expression  to  the  gratitude  of  the  people.      At 


42  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

its  conclusion  the  hero-admiral  arose  and  modestly  acknowledged  the 
compliment  paid  to  him  and  to  his  officers.  Admiral  Togo  is  short, 
even  for  the  Japanese,  and  has  a  scanty  beard.  Neither  in  stature  nor 
in  countenance  does  he  give  evidence  of  the  stern  courage  and  indom- 
itable will  which  have  raised  him  to  the  pinnacle  of  fame. 

When  he  sat  down  the  mayor  proposed  three  times  three  banzais, 
and  they  were  given  with  a  will  by  the  enormous  crowd  that  stood  in 
the  open  place  before  the  stand.  While  writing  this  article,  I  am 
in  receipt  of  information  that  Mayor  Ozaki  has  secured  for  me  one 
of  the  little  camp  stools  above  referred  to  and  has  had  made  for  me 
a  duplicate  of  the  other.  They  will  not  only  be  interesting  souvenirs 
of  an  historic  occasion,  and  prized  as  such,  but  they  will  be  interesting 
also  because  they  contrast  so  sharply  with  the  large  and  richly  up- 
holstered chairs  used  in  America  on  similar  occasions. 

From  this  public  meeting  the  admiral  and  his  officers  were  con- 
ducted to  a  neighboring  hall  where  an  elaborate  luncheon  was  served. 
With  the  councilmen  I  went  to  this  hall  and  was  presented  to  the 
admiral  and  his  associates,  one  of  whom  had  been  a  student  at 
Annapolis. 

By  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  Lloyd  Griscom,  the  American  minister,  I 
had  an  audience  with  the  emperor,  these  audiences  being  arranged 
through  the  minister  representing  the  country  from  which  the  caller 
comes.  Our  minister,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  much  assistance 
and  many  kindnesses  during  my  stay  at  the  capital,  accompanied  me 
to  the  palace  and  instructed  me,  as  they  say  in  the  fraternities,  "in  the 
secret  work  of  the  order."  Except  where  the  caller  wears  a  uniform, 
he  is  expected  to  appear  in  evening  dress,  although  the  hour  fixed  is 
in  the  day  time.  At  the  outer  door  stand  men  in  livery,  one  of  whom 
conducts  the  callers  through  long  halls,  beautifully  decorated  on  ceil- 
ings and  walls,  to  a  spacious  reception  room  where  a  halt  is  made 
until  the  summons  comes  from  the  emperor's  room.  The  emperor 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  receiving  room  with  an  interpreter  at  his 
side.  The  caller  on  reaching  the  threshold  bows;  he  then  advances 
half  way  to  the  emperor,  pauses  and  bows  again;  he  then  proceeds 
and  bows  a  third  time  as  he  takes  the  extended  hand  of  the  sovereign. 

The  conversation  is  brief  and  formal,  consisting  of  answers  to  the 
questions  asked  by  his  majesty.  The  emperor  is  fifty-three  years  old, 
about  five  feet  six  inches  in  height,  well  built  and  wears  a  beard, 
although,  as  is  the  case  with  most  Japanese,  the  growth  is  not  heavy. 
On  retiring  the  caller  repeats  the  three  bows. 

We  wore  shown  through  the  palace,  and  having  seen  the  old  palace 


44 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


at  Kyoto,  which  was  the  capital  until  the  date  of  the  restoration 
(1868),  I  was  struck  with  the  difference.  The  former  was  severely 
plain ;  the  latter  represents  the  best  that  Japanese  art  can  produce. 

No  discussion  of  Japanese  customs  would  be  complete  without  men- 
tion of  the  tea  ceremonial.     One  meets  tea  on  his  arrival;  it  is  his 


MARQUIS     ITO. 


constant  companion  during  his  stay  and  it  is  mingled  with  the  fare- 
wells that  speed  him  on  his  departure.  Whenever  he  enters  a  house 
he  is  offered  tea  and  cake  and  they  are  never  refused.  This  custom 
prevails  in  the  larger  stores  and  is  scrupulously  observed  at  public 


CUSTOMS    AND    HOSPITALITY  r> 

buildings  and  colleges.  The  tea  is  served  in  dainty  cups  and  taken 
without  sugar  or  cream.  The  tea  drinking  habit  is  universal  here, 
the  kettle  of  hot  water  sitting  on  the  coals  in  the  brazier  most  of  the 
time.  At  each  railroad  station  the  boys  sing  out,  "Cha!  Cha!"  (the 
Japanese  word  for  tea)  and  for  less  than  two  cents  in  our  money  they 


COUNT  OKUMA. 


will  furnish  the  traveler  with  an  earthen  pot  of  hot  tea,  with  pot  and 
cup  thrown  in. 

The  use  of  tea  at  social  gatherings  dates  back  at  least  six  hundred 
years,  when  a  tea  ceremonial  was  instituted  by  a  Buddhist  priest   to 


46  TITE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

soften  the  manners  of  the  warriors.  It  partook  of  a  religious  char- 
acter at  first,  but  soon  became  a  social  form,  and  different  schools  of 
tea  drinkers  vied  with  each  other  in  suggesting  rules  and  methods 
of  procedure.  About  three  hundred  years  ago  Hideyoshi,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  the  military  rulers  of  Japan,  gave  what  is  described  as 
the  largest  tea  party  on  record,  the  invitations  being  in  the  form  of 
an  imperial  edict.  All  lovers  of  tea  were  summoned  to  assemble  at 
a  given  date  in  a  pine  grove  near  Kyoto,  and  they  seem  to  have  done 
so.  The  tea  party  lasted  ten  days  and  the  emperor  drank  at  every 
booth. 

According  to  Chamberlain,  tea  drinking  had  reached  the  luxurious 
stage  before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  lords  took 
part  in  the  daily  gatherings,  reclining  on  tiger  skins,  the  walls  of 
the  guest  chamber  being  richly  ornamented.  One  of  the  popular 
games  of  that  day  was  the  offering  of  a  number  of  varieties  of  tea, 
the  guests  being  required  to  guess  where  each  variety  was  produced, 
the  best  guess  winning  a  handsome  prize.  The  tea  ceremony  answered 
at  least  one  useful  purpose — it  furnished  an  innocent  way  of  killing 
time,  and  the  lords  of  that  day  seem  to  have  had  an  abundance  of 
time  on  their  hands.  The  daughters  of  the  upper  classes  were  trained 
to  perform  the  ceremony  and  displayed  much  skill  therein.  Even  to 
this  day  it  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  accomplishments,  and  young 
ladies  perfect  themselves  in  it  much  as  our  daughters  learn  music  and 
singing.  At  Kagoshima,  Governor  Chikami,  one  of  the  most  scholarly 
men  whom  I  have  met  here,  had  his  daughter  perform  for  my  in- 
struction a  part  of  the  ceremony,  time  not  permitting  more.  With 
charming  grace  she  prepared,  poured  and  served  this  Japanese  nectar, 
each  motion  being  according  to  the  rules  of  the  most  approved  sect, 
for  there  are  sects  among  tea  drinkers. 

The  theatre  is  an  ancient  institution  here,  although  until  recently 
the  actors  were  considered  beneath  even  the  mercantile  class.  Their 
social  standing  has  been  somewhat  improved  since  the  advent  of  west- 
ern ideas.  The  theatre  building  is  very  plain  as  compared  with  ours 
or  even  with  the  better  class  of  homes  here.  They  are  always  on  the 
ground  floor  and  have  a  circular,  revolving  stage  within  the  larger 
stage  which  makes  it  possible  to  change  the  scenes  instantly. 

The  plays  are  divided  into  two  kinds — historical  ones  reproducing 
old  Japan,  and  modern  plays.  The  performance  often  lasts  through 
the  entire  day  and  evening,  some  of  the  audience  bringing  their  tea 
kettles  and  food.  Lunches,  fruit,  cigarettes  and  tea  are  also  on  sale 
in  the  theatre.     The  people  sit  on  the  floor  as  they  do  in  their  homes 


CUSTOMS    AND    HOSPITALITY  ^ 

and  at  public  meetings.  One  of  the  side  aisles  is  raised  to  the  level 
of  the  stage  and  the  actors  use  it  for  entrance  and  exit. 

In  this  connection  a  word  should  be  said  in  regard  to  the  Geisha 
girls  who  have  furnished  such  ample  material  for  the  artist  and  the 
decorator.  They  are  selected  for  their  beauty  and  trained  in  what  is 
called  a  dance,  although  it  differs  so  much  from  the  American  dance 
as  scarcely  to  be  describable  by  that  term.  It  is  rather  a  series  of 
graceful  poses  in  which  gay  costumes,  dainty  fans,  flags,  scarfs  and 
sometimes  parasols,  play  a  part.  The  faces  of  the  dancers  are  ex- 
pressionless and  there  is  no  exposure  of  the  limbs.  The  Geisha  girl- 
are  often  called  in  to  entertain  guests  at  a  private  dinner,  the  per- 
formance being  before,  not  after,  the  meal. 

Our  first  introduction  to  this  national  amusement  was  at  the  Maple 
Club  dinner  given  at  Tokyo  by  a  society  composed  of  Japanese  men 
who  had  studied  in  the  United  States.  The  name  of  the  society  is  a 
Japanese  phrase  which  means  the  "Friends  of  America."  The  Maple 
Club  is  the  most  famous  restaurant  in  Japan,  and  the  Geisha  girls 
employed  there  stand  at  the  head  of  their  profession.  During  the 
dancing  there  is  music  on  stringed  instruments,  which  resembles  the 
banjo  in  tone,  and  sometimes  singing.  At  the  Maple  Club  the  Geisha 
girls  displayed  American  and  Japanese  flags.  We  saw  the  dancing 
again  at  an  elaborate  dinner  given  by  Mr.  Fukuzawa,  editor  of  the 
Jiji  Shimpo.     Here  also  the  flags  of  both  nations  were  used. 

In  what  words  can  I  adequately  describe  the  hospitality  of  the 
Japanese?  I  have  read,  and  even  heard,  that  among  the  more  ignorant 
classes  there  is  a  decided  anti-foreign  feeling,  and  it  is  not  unnatural 
that  those  who  refuse  to  reconcile  themselves  to  Japan's  new  attitude 
should  blame  the  foreigner  for  the  change,  but  we  did  not  encounter 
this  sentiment  anywhere.  Never  in  our  own  country  have  we  been 
the  recipients  of  more  constant  kindness  or  more  considerate  attention. 
From  Marquis  Ito  down  through  all  the  ranks  of  official  life  we  found 
everyone  friendly  to  America,  and  to  us  as  representatives  of  America. 
At  the  dinner  given  by  Minister  Griscom  there  were  present,  besides 
Marquis  Ito,  the  leader  of  the  liberal  party,  Count  Okuma,  the  leader 
of  the  progressive  party  (the  opposition  party),  and  a  number  of 
other  prominent  Japanese  politicians. 

At  the  dinner  given  by  Consul  General  Miller  at  Yokohama,  Gov- 
ernor Sufu  and  Mayor  Ichihara  were  present.  The  state  and  city 
officials  wherever  we  have  been  have  done  everything  possible  to  make 
our  stay  pleasant.  The  college  and  school  authorities  have  opened 
their  institutions  to  us  and  many  without  official  position  have  in  un- 
mistakable  ways  shown   themselves   friendly.      We   will   carry   away 


is  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

with  us  a  number  of  handsome  presents  bestowed  by  municipalities, 
colleges,  societies  and  individuals. 

We  were  entertained  by  Count  Okuma  soon  after  our  arrival  and 
met  there,  among  others,  Mr.  Kato,  of  the  state  department,  and 
President  Hatoyama,  of  the  Waseda  University,  and  their  wives.  The 
count's  house  is  half  European  and  half  Japanese,  and  his  garden 
is  celebrated  for  its  beauty.  At  Viscount  Kana's  we  saw  a  delightful 
bit  of  home  life.  He  is  one  of  the  few  daimios,  or  feudal  lords,  who 
has  become  conspicuous  in  the  politics  of  Japan,  and  we  soon  dis- 
covered the  secret  of  his  success.  He  has  devoted  himself  to  the  in- 
terests of  agriculture  and  spent  his  time  in  an  earnest  and  intelligent 
effort  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  rural  population.  He  is  known 
as  "The  Farmer's  Friend."  His  house  is  at  the  top  of  a  beautifully 
terraced  hill,  which  was  once  a  part  of  his  feudal  estate.  He  and 
his  wife  and  six  children  met  us  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  on  our 
arrival  and  escorted  us  to  the  bottom  on  our  departure.  The  children 
assisted  in  serving  the  dinner  and  afterward  sang  for  us  the  Ameri- 
can national  air  as  well  as  their  own  national  hymn.  The  hospitality 
was  so  genuine  and  so  heartily  entered  into  by  all  the  family  that 
we  could  hardly  realize  that  we  were  in  a  foreign  land  and  entertained 
by  hosts  to  whom  we  had  to  speak  through  an  interpreter. 

In  the  country,  fifteen  miles  from  Kagoshima,  I  was  a  guest  at 
the  home  of  Mr.  Yamashita,  the  father  of  the  young  man,  who,  when 
a  student  in  America,  made  his  home  with  us  for  more  than  five  years. 
Mr.  Yamashita  was  of  the  samurai  class,  and  since  the  abolition  of 
feudalism  has  been  engaged  in  farming.  He  had  invited  his  rela- 
tives and  also  the  postmaster  and  the  principal  of  the  district  school 
to  the  noon  meal.  He  could  not  have  been  more  thoughtful  of  my 
comfort  or  more  kindly  in  his  manner.  The  little  country  school 
which  stood  near  by  turned  out  to  bid  us  welcome.  The  children 
were  massed  at  a  bridge  over  which  large  flags  of  the  two  nations 
floated  from  bamboo  poles.  Each  child  also  held  a  flag,  the 
Japanese  and  American  flags  alternating.  As  young  Yamashita  and 
I  rode  between  the  lines  they  waved  their  flags  and  shouted  "Banzai." 
And  so  it  was  at  other  schools.  Older  people  may  be  diplomatic  and 
feign  good  will,  but  children  speak  from  their  hearts.  There  is  no 
mistaking  their  meaning,  and  in  my  memory  the  echo  of  the  voices 
of  the  children,  mingling  with  the  assurances  of  the  men  and  women, 
convinces  me  that  Japan  entertains  nothing  but  good  will  toward  our 
nation.  Steam  has  narrowed  the  Pacific  and  made  us  neighbors;  let 
Justice  keep  us  friends. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

JAPAN— HER   HISTORY   AND   PROGRESS. 

A*  for  the  island-  themselves,  they  arc  largely  of  volcanic  origin, 
and  a  number  of  smoking  peaks  still  give  evidence  of  the  mighty 
convulsions  which  piled  up  these  masses  of  masonry.  Asosan  moun- 
tain, on  the  island  of  Kyushu,  has  the  largest  crater  in  the  world. 

Japan  is  the  home  of  the  earthquake.  The  Japanese  Year  Book 
of  1905  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  Japan  was  visited  by 
17,750  earthquakes  during  the  thirteen  years  ending  1887 — an  aver- 
age of  more  than  thirteen  hundred  a  year,  or  three  and  a  half  each 
day.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  a  large  majority  of  these  were  so 
trivial  as  to  he  unnoticed,  except  by  those  in  charge  of  the  delicate 
instrument  which  registers  them. 

If  the  average  is  as  great  at  this  time,  there  have  been  more  than 
seventy-five  since  we  landed,  but  we  have  not  been  aware  of  them. 
The  severe  shocks  have  come  at  periods  averaging  two  and  a  half 
years,  and  the  really  disastrous  ones  have  been  something  like  fifty 
years  apart.  The  country  about  Tokyo  i<  most  subject  to  earthquakes. 
the  last  severe  one  being  in  1804.  According  to  an  ancient  legend, 
Japan  rests  upon  the  back  of  a  large  fish  and  the  earthquakes  are 
caused  by  the  moving  of  the  fish.  There  is  a  Seismological  society  in 
Japan  which  has  published  a  sixteen-volume  work  giving  all  that  is 
scientifically  known  of  the  cause  and  recurrence  of  these  disturbances. 

Of  the  origin  of  the  Japanese  themselves  nothing  certain  is  known. 
The  best  authorities  say  that  they  came  from  the  continent  in  an  early 
Mongol  invasion,  while  others  believe  that  they  came  from  the  islands 
which  stretch  to  the  south.  One  writer  announces  the  theory  that 
they  are  the  lost  Israelites.  It  is  quite  certain  that  when  the  first 
Japanese  landed  on  the  islands  they  found  an  earlier  race  in  poss<  - 
sion.  Some  seventeen  thousand  of  these,  called  A  inns,  now  occupy  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  empire — an  indication  that  the  migration 
was  from  the  southwest.  The  Ainus  have  remained  distinct:  where 
they  have  intermarried  with  the  Japanese,  the  half  breeds  have  died 

49 


HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS  51 

out  in  the  second  or  third  generation.  They  are  a  hairy  race  and  in 
physical  characteristics  quite  different  from  the  Japanese.  Their  re- 
ligion is  a  sort  of  nature  worship,  and  it  is  their  custom  to  say  a 
simple  grace  before  eating. 

The  remoteness  of  the  settlement  of  Japan  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  reigning  family,  which  claims  descent  from  the  gods,  has  held 
undisputed  sway  for  twenty-five  hundred  years,  although  the  record 
of  the  first  thousand  years  is  so  dependent  upon  verbal  tradition  that 
the  official  history  cannot  be  verified.  As  concubinage  has  been  prac- 
ticed from  time  immemorial,  the  heir,  the  oldest  son,  has  not  alway- 
been  born  of  the  empress. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  the  influence  of  China 
and  Korea  began  to  be  felt  in  Japan,  the  written  characters  of  the 
language  being  quite  like  the  Chinese.  Koreans  and  Japanese  do 
not  agree  as  to  the  influence  which  the  former  have  had  upon  the  latter. 
A  very  intelligent  Korean  informs  me  that  his  is  the  mother  country 
and  that  Japan  was  settled  from  Korea,  hut  the  Japanese  do  not  take 
kindly  to  this   theory. 

The  feudal  system,  of  which  I  shall  speak  more  at  length  in  an- 
other article,  was  early  established  in  Japan,  and  society  was  divided 
into  well  defined  classes.  First  came  the  members  of  the  royal  family 
and  those  admitted  to  the  circle  by  favor;  next,  the  Shogun  (of  whom 
more  will  be  heard  under  the  subject  of  government)  and  his  relative. 

Next  in  rank  were  the  daimios,  or  lords,  of  varying  degrees  of 
importance.  Each  daimio  had  a  large  number  of  retainers,  who  were 
called  samurai,  and  below  these  were  a  still  larger  number  of  peas- 
ants who  tilled  the  soil  and  did  the  manual  labor.  Some  of  the  early 
pictures  show  the  gorgeous  dress  of  the  daimios  and  portray  the  elabo- 
rate  ceremony  employed   on   state   occasions. 

The  samurai  were  the  warriors  and  had  no  other  occupation  than 
to  defend  their  lords  in  the  struggle^  between  the  clans.  They  cor- 
responded to  the  knights  in  Europe  during  the  days  of  chivalry,  ex- 
cept that  there  were  no  romantic  adventures  over  women — woman 
holding  until  recently  ;i  very  subordinate  place  ;i<  compared  with 
"her  lord  and  master.'5 

The  samurai  were  given  an  annual  allowance  for  their  subsistence, 
and  felt  that  toil  was  far  beneath  their  dignity.  They  wore  lacquered 
armor  and  costly  helmets  and  carried  two  swords — a  long  one  for  the 
enemy  and  a  short  one  for  themselves. 

It  was  with  this  short  sword  that  the  famous  hara-kiri  was  committed. 
This  ancient  form  of  suicide  by  disemhowelment  was  considered  an 


52  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

highly  honorable  death  and  has  been  practiced  until  within  a  gen- 
eration. General  Saigo,  one  of  the  great  men  of  Japan  and  one  of 
its  popular  heroes,  was  the  last  man  of  prominence  to  terminate  his 
life  in  this  way.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  movement  to  restore 
to  the  emperor  the  authority  which  the  shoguns  trad  usurped  and 
was  for  a  while  close  to  the  throne.  In  1874,  however,  he  organized 
an  army  for  the  invasion  of  Korea,  and  coming  into  conflict  with  the 
forces  of  the  empire,  which  were  called  out  to  prevent  the  invasion, 
he  was  defeated.  In  his  humiliation  he  committed  hara-kiri.  A  few 
years  ago  the  title  of  Marquis  was  conferred  upon  him  by  a  post- 
humous decree  and  is  now  enjoyed  by  his  eldest  son.  One  of  his 
sons  is  the  present  mayor  of  Kyoto  and  another  a  colonel  in  the  Im- 
j)erial  Guard.  A  bronze  monument  of  heroic  size,  the  gift  of  admiring 
friends,  has  recently  been  placed  in  the  principal  park  in  Tokyo. 

Only  a  few  years  ago  a  young  Japanese  committed  suicide  in  this 
way  in  order  to  emphasize  his  protest  against  the  encroachments  of 
the  Russians,  but  a  strong  sentiment  is  developing  against  hara-kiri, 
and  it  will  soon  take  its  place  among  other  obsolete  customs. 

The  samurai  represented  the  intellectual  as  well  as  the  military 
strength  of  the  nation.  The  daimios  have  furnished  few  of  the  men 
of  prominence  in  modern  Japan,  nearly  all  of  the  leaders  in  govern- 
ment, education,  literature  and  the  professions  having  come  from  the 
samurai  class.  NowT,  hoAvever,  that  all  social  distinctions  have  been 
removed  and  the  schools  opened  to  the  children  of  all,  the  old  lines 
between  the  classes  cannot  so  easily  be  traced. 

The  merchant  class  has  always  been  looked  down  upon  in  Japan. 
In  the  social  scale  the  members  of  this  class  were  not  only  lower  than 
the  samurai,  but  lower  than  the  tillers  of  the  soil.  It  was  probably 
because  of  the  contempt  in  which  they  were  held  that  so  low  a  standard 
of  integrity  existed  among  them — at  least  this  is  the  explanation 
usually  given.  Even  now  Japanese,  as  well  as  foreigners,  complain 
that  the  merchants  impose  upon  their  customers,  but  here  also  a 
change  is  taking  place  and  a  new  order  of  things  being  inaugurated. 
There  are  in  every  city  merchants  of  honor  and  responsibility  who 
are  redeeming  trade  from  the  stigma  which  it  so  long  bore.  Still, 
unless  the  stranger  knows  with  whom  he  is  dealing,  it  is  well  to  have 
a  Japanese  advisor,  for  we  found  by  experience  that  the  price  named 
to  foreigners  was  sometimes  considerably  above  the  regular  price. 

For  centuries  Japan  lived  an  isolated  life  and  developed  herself 
according  to  her  own  ideas.  Of  her  native  religion,  Shintoism,  of 
the  introduction  of  Buddhism  and  of  the  first  Christian  missionaries, 


HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS 


53 


I  shall  speak  in  a  later  article.  She  repelled  an  attack  of  the  Mongols 
which  might  have  been  disastrous  to  her  but  for  the  fact  that  a  timely 
storm  destroyed  the  invading  fleet,  much  as  the  Spanish  Armada  was 
destroyed.  She  has  from  time  to  time  attempted  the  invasion  of 
Korea,  the  last  attempt  being  made  about  three  hundred  years  ago. 
A  little  later  the  Shogun,   Iemitsu,   alarmed  by  the   spread  of  the 

Christian  religion,  intro- 
duced by  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries from  Spain  and 
Portugal,  shut  the  coun- 
try up,  and  for  two  and 
a  half  centuries  no  for- 
eigner was  admitted  and 
no  citizen  of  Japan  was 
permitted  to  go  abroad. 

To  more  surely  keep 
his  people  at  home  the 
Shogun  prohibited  the 
building  of  anv  but  small 
sailing  vessels.  It  is  al- 
most incredible  that  so 
large  a  group  of  people 
could  have  enjoyed  the 
civilization  which  existed 
here  and  still  concealed 
themselves  so  completely 
from  the  outside  world 
and  remained  so  ignorant 
of  the  mighty  movements 
in  Europe  and  America. 
In  1853  Commodore  Perry 
arrived  with  an  Ameri- 
can fleet  and  a  treaty  was 
finally. entered  into  which 
opened  the  country  to 
foreign  intercourse. 
Japan  was  ripe  for  the  change.  While  there  was  at  first  an  anti-for- 
eign sentiment  which  affected  domestic  politics  and  at  one  time 
resulted  in  an  attack  upon  a  foreign  fleet,  the  assimilation  of  western 
civilization  was  rapid  and  constant.  Young  men  began  to  go  abroad, 
foreign  teachers  were  sent  for  and  the  Japanese  people  began  to  man- 


JAPAXESE  LADY  IN  AMERICAN  DRESS. 


54 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


ifest  a  wonderful  aptitude  for  the  adaptation  of  foreign  ideas  to  local 
conditions.  The  army  and  navy  were  reconstructed  upon  the  Euro- 
pean models  and  a  public  school  system  largely  like  our  own  was 
established. 


A  JAPANESE  MAIDEN. 


In  most  countries  reforms  have  come  up  from  the  masses  through 
more  or  less  prolonged  seasons  of  agitation,  but  in  Japan  the  higher 
classes  have  been  the  leaders  and  have  extended  increasing  social  and 
governmental  advantages  to  the  whole  people  without  a  struggle.     In 


HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS  55 

every  department  of  thought  there  has  been  progress,  and  in  every  line 

of  work  there  have  been  leaders  whose  ambitions  and  ideals  have  been 
high  and  noble. 

To  illustrate  the  change  thai  has  taken  place,  Count  Okuma  cites 
the  ease  of  the  famous  military  genius,  the  present  Marshal  Yama- 
gata.  When  a  very  young  man  Yamagata  was  a  spearman  in  the 
army  organized  by  the  daimios  of  Choshu  to  attack  the  foreign  ships 
at  the  Shimonoseki  Straits.  He  was  so  ignorant  of  modern  warfare 
that  he  was  confident  of  the  ability  of  the  Japanese  to  defeat  the 
foreigners  with  spears.  He  thought  that  the  Europeans  and  Ameri- 
cans would  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  natives  as  soon  as  they  landed. 
His  surprise  may  be  imagined  when  leaden  mLssiles  mowed  down  his 
comrades  long  before  the  spears  could  be  brought  into  use.  But  this 
young  man  who  attempted  in  1884  to  measure  spear  against  ride, 
betook  himself  to  the  study  of  the  military  methods  of  the  foreigners, 
and  in  the  recent  war  with  Russia  he  has  been  chief  of  the  general 
staff  of  the  Japanese  army — an  army  which  in  equipment,  in  prep- 
aration, and  in  provision  for  sick  and  wounded,  as  well  as  in  its  ex- 
ploits upon  the  battlefield,  has  astonished  the  world.  Count  Okuma 
said  that  the  progress  made  in  the  army  and  in  the  navy  was  paralleled 
by  the  progress  made  in  other  directions. 

While  there  are  here  abundant  preparations  for  war,  there  is  a 
prevalent  desire  for  peace.  Notwithstanding  Japan  has  a  most  effi- 
cient army  and  navy,  and  notwithstanding  the  natural  exultation  over 
their  success  at  arms,  the  Japanese  as  I  have  met  them  are  strongly 
inclined  toward  peace.  Several  times  in  introducing  me  the  presiding 
officer  has  referred  in  terms  of  generous  appreciation  to  the  action  of 
our  president  in  bringing  about  the  recent  treaty  of  peace.  The  wars 
against  China  and  Russia  have  been  regarded  by  the  people  a<«  de- 
fensive wars  and  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  civil  war  of  1874 
was  simply  a  suppression  by  the  government  of  an  attempt  to  invade 
Korea.  General  Saigo  raised  his  army  for  the  purpose  of  conquering 
Korea,  but  the  government  met  the  insurrectionists  with  an  army 
large  enough  to  completely  overwhelm  the  forces  of  the  famous 
general. 

The  Anglo-Japanese  alliance  is  everywhere  defended  as  a  guarantee 
of  peace.  I  met  yesterday  a  Japanese  of  some  local  prominence  who 
has  issued  a  plea  for  universal  peace.  He  proposes  the  establishment 
of  an  international  peace  society  and  in  earnest  language  sets  forth 
the  horrors  of  war  and  the  material,  as  well  as  the  moral,  arguments 
in  favor  of  peace. 


56  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Upon  no  element  of  Japanese  society  has  the  rising  sun  of  a  higher 
civilization  shed  its  rays  more  benignantly  than  upon  woman.  The 
position  of  the  mother  was  an  honored  one  when  she  became  the  head 
of  the  family,  but  while  the  children  cared  for  both  parents  with  a 
generous  filial  devotion,  the  wife  and  daughter  were  under  the  almost 
absolute  power  of  the  husband  and  father.  Marriages  were  arranged 
by  the  parents  and  the  young  people  were  allowed  to  see  each  other 
after  the  match  was  agreed  upon.-  Theoretically,  each  had  a  right 
to  protest  if  dissatisfied,  but  practically  the  girl's  protest  amounted 
to  nothing. 

The  wife  was  not  only  the  servant  of  the  husband,  but  might  also 
be  the  servant  of  the  mother-in-law — the  mother-in-law  joke  being 
here  on  the  daughter-in-law  instead  of  the  son-in-law.  The  fact  that 
the  husband  was  permitted  to  keep  as  many  concubines  as  he  desired 
still  further  lowered  the  status  of  woman.  The  daughters  were  often 
sold  into  prostitution  to  relieve  the  indebtedness  of  the  father,  and 
while  this  custom  is  on  the  decline,  there  are  still  thousands  of  Jap- 
anese girls  whose  virtue  is  made  a  matter  of  merchandise  in  accordance 
with  this  ancient  custom.  There  is  recorded  among  the  decisions  of 
Ooka,  sometimes  called  the  Japanese  Solomon,  who  lived  three  cen- 
turies ago,  a  case  in  which  the  release  of  a  young  woman  from  a 
house  of  ill-fame  was  the  central  feature.  The  report  of  the  judge's 
decree  shows  a  discriminating  mind  as  well  as  devotion  to  justice. 
Incidentally,  the  record  reveals  the  fact  that  there  were  Shylocks  in 
those  days  who  loaned  on  short  time  at  high  rates  and  exacted  the 
pound  of  flesh.  In  this  case,  the  usurer  compelled  the  sale  of  the 
daughter  in  extinguishment  of  a  debt  of  fifteen  yen,  which  by  rapidly 
accumulating  interest,  had  reached  the,  to  them,  enormous  sum  of 
thirty-five  yen  (or  $17.50).  The  righteous  judge  confiscated  the 
house  of  the  extortioner  and  with  the  proceeds  redeemed  the  woman. 
By  the  aid  of  the  missionaries,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Murphy, 
of  Nagoya,  legislation  has  been  secured  making  it  unlawful  for  a  girl 
to  be  retained  in  one  of  these  houses  against  her  wall,  and  many  have 
already  been  rescued.  As  the  taking  of  a  concubine  is  a  matter  of 
record  it  is  possible  for  the  newspapers  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
domestic  relations  of  prominent  men,  and  some  of  the  papers  have 
a—isted  in  creating  a  public  opinion  against  concubines.  This  custom 
is  certain  to  give  way  before  the  advance  of  western  ideas. 

One  of  the  foremost  leaders  in  the  elevation  of  woman  was  Yuki- 
chi  Fukuzawa,  one  of  the  greatest,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  influ- 
ential, of  the  men  wlio  have  appeared  in  Japan.  He  was  a  journalist, 


HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS 


57 


an  educator,  an  orator  and  a  philosopher.  He  refused  to  accept  any 
titles  or  decorations  and  was  called  "The  Great  Commoner."  He 
founded  a  college,  the  Keio-Gijuku,  to  which  many  of  the  public  men 
trace  their  ideals  and  their  interest  in  national  and  social  problems. 
He  delivered  the  first  public  speech  made  in  Japan  for,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  the  habit  of  public  speaking  does  not  reach  farther  back 

than  twenty-three  years. 
Until  constitutional  gov- 
ernment was  formed  there 
was  no  place  for  the 
forum.  Shortly  before  his 
death,  Mr.  Fukuzawa  re- 
duced his  philosophy  to 
the  form  of  a  code  of 
morals  which  has  made 
a  profound  impression  up- 
on the  thought  of  his 
country.  He  presented  "in- 
dependence and  self  re- 
spect," as  he  defined  them, 
as  the  "cardinal  tenet  of 
personal  morals  and  liv- 
ing." He  insisted  upon 
the  care  of  the  body,  the 
training  of  the  mind  and 
the  cultivation  of  the 
moral  nature.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  to  raise  his 
voice  against  hara-kiri  and  in  his  code  of  morals  he  says:  "To  com- 
plete the  natural  span  of  life  is  to  discharge  a  duty  incumbent  on 
man.  Therefore,  any  person  who,  be  the  cause  what  it  may  or  the 
circumstances  what  they  may,  deprives  himself-  by  violence  of  his 
own  life,  must  be  said  to  be  guilty  of  an  act  inexcusable  and  cowardly, 
as  well  as  mean,  and  entirely  opposed  to  the  principle  of  independ- 
ence and  self  respect."  \ 

Concerning  woman  his  code  of  morals  says:  "The  custom  of  re- 
garding women  as  the  inferiors  of  men  is  a  vicious  relic  of  barbarism. 
Men  and  women  of  any  enlightened  country  must  treat  and  love  each 
other  on  a  basis  of  equality,  so  that  each  may  develop  his  or  her  own 
independence  and  self  respect," 

When  this  great  man  died  in  1901  his  widow  was  in  receipt  of  let- 
ters from  many  women  expressing  their  appreciation  of  his  labors  in 


MR.    YUKICHI    FUKAZAWA,   JK. 


:>s  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 

behalf  of  the  women  of  Japan.  Some  of  these  are  reproduced,  in  a 
life  of  Mr.  Fukuzawa,  recently  issued,  and  show  the  deep  gratitude 
which  the  women  feel  toward  him.  It  is  also  interesting  to  know  that 
Mr.  Fukuzawa  believed  in  the  dignity  of  labor  and  taught  that  each 
person  should  be  "an  independent  worker  beside  being  his  own  bread- 
winner." While  he  taught  patriotism,  he  also  taught  that  the  people 
of  all  nations  "are  brethren"  and  that  "no  discrimination  should  be 
made  in  dealing  with  them." 

The  emperor  sent  him,  just  before  his  death,  fifty  thousand  yen 
as  a  recognition  of  his  eminent  services,  but  he  immediately  turned 
the  sum  over  to  the  Keio-Gijuku. 

The  Jiji  Shimpo,  the  newspaper  established  by  Mr.  Fukuzawa,  is  still 
conducted  by  one  of  his  sons,  with  whom  we  had  the  pleasure  of  dining. 
Another  son  is  an  instructor  in  the  Keio-Gijuku. 

Newspaper  development  has  kept  pace  with  the  development  in 
other  directions.  Tokyo,  the  capital,  has  sixteen  daily  papers  with 
sufficient  circulation  to  make  them  known  as  large  papers.  Besides 
these,  there  are  magazines,  periodicals  and  papers  published  in  English. 
The  Kokumin  Shimbun  is  known  as  the  government  organ  while  most 
of  the  others  are  regarded  as  independent.  The  Tokyo  Times  is  an  ex- 
cellent paper  published  in  English.  There  is  a  weekly  publication 
called  the  Economist,  with  a  circulation  of  five  thousand,  which  deals 
with  commercial,  financial  and  economic  questions.  Yokohama  has 
papers  published  in  both  languages  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  other 
large  seaport  towns. 

All  the  cities  are  supplied  with  daily  papers  published  in  Japanese. 
At  Kagoshima,  a  city  of  about  fifty  thousand,  situated  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Kyushu  Island,  I  found  a  prosperous  daily  paper  called 
the  Kagoshima  Shimbun.  (Shimbun  means  daily  newspaper.)  It 
has  a  circulation  of  nine  thousand  six  hundred,  six  thousand  being  in 
the  city. 

At  Osaka  T  noticed  a  building  elaborately  decorated.  In  front  were 
large  flags  on  bamboo  poles  and  smaller  flags  strung  on  cords,  while 
Japanese  lanterns  were  present  in  profusion.  As  none  of  the  build- 
ings around  were  decorated.  T  inquired  and  found  that  the  decorated 
building  was  the  office  of  the  Osaka  Asahi  News  and  that  the  paper 
was  celebrating  tbe  withdrawal  of  the  governmental  order  which  for 
two  weeks  had  suspended  its  publication.  The  issue  for  that  day  con- 
tained a  large  sized  picture  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty.  When  rioting 
occurred  at  'Tokyo  jusl  after  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Russia,  an  order 
was  issued  authorizing  the  arbitrary  suspension  of  any  newspaper  con- 
taining utterance-  deemed   incendiary.     Under  this  order  the  Asahi 


HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS 


59 


News  received  notice  to  suspend  publication  until  permission  was 
granted  to  resume  The  withdrawal  of  the  notice  was  duly  cele- 
brated and  the  paper  announced  that  its  readers,  rather  than  the  paper, 
had  reason  to  complain  of  the  suspension.  This  paper  has  the  largest 
circulation  of  any  in  Japan,  about  two  hundred  thousand,  and  the 
order  suspending  it  has  been  the  subject  of  much  editorial  criticism. 


SUMITKA  HASEBA JAPANESE  STATESMAN. 

Besides  the  newspapers  which  are  conducted  as  business  propositus, 
there  are  papers  supported  by  associations  formed  for  the  propagation 
of  various  reforms.  For  instance,  a  paper  called  Romaji  is  published 
monthly  at  Tokyo — Japanese  word-  being  spelled  with  Roman  letters, 
in  the  place  of  the  present  Japanese  characters.     A  society  was  formed 


60  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

some  twenty  years  ago  for  the  purpose  of  urging  this  reform  and  a 
paper  advocating  it  was  published  for  three  years,  but  finally  suspended 
from  lack  of  support.  This  fall  the  Romaji  was  established  and  hopes 
for  a  better  fate.  While  this  reform  would  be  very  acceptable  to 
foreigners  who  are  trying  to  learn  the  language,  the  movement  does 
not  seem  to  have  gathered  much  momentum. 

In  one  of  the  leading  papers,  the  Hocho  Shimbun,  Mr.  Gensai  Murai, 
a  novelist  of  distinction,  published  a  continued  story  running  daily 
through  six  years.  It  is  not  yet  completed,  having  been  suspended 
during  the  war.  In  this  story  the  wTriter  presents  a  large  amount  of 
information  on  national,  political,  economic  and  social  questions,  at 
the  same  time  putting  in  enough  fiction  to  sustain  the  interest. 

Progress  along  some  other  lines  will  be  treated  under  special  heads. 
I  find  that  there  is  some  tendency  here  to  resent  the  statement  that 
Japan  has  borrowed  largely  from  other  nations.  Some  native  writers 
insist  that  New  Japan  is  but  the  natural  development  of  Old  Japan. 
There  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  this,  because  there  is  no  growth  except 
from  a  living  germ ;  and  yet  it  can  not  be  denied  that  Japan  has  appro- 
priated to  her  own  great  advantage  many  foreign  ideas,  and  it  is  not 
to  her  discredit  that  she  has  done  so.  Both  individuals  and  nations 
borrow;  imitation,  not  originality,  is  the  rule.  It  will  humble  the  pride 
of  anyone  to  attempt  to  separate  that  which  he  has  learned  from  others 
from  that  which  he  can  claim  as  his  own  by  right  of  discovery. 

Steam  is  the  same  to-day  that  it  was  ages  ago,  and  yet  millions 
watched  it  escaping  from  the  kettle  with  no  thought  of  its  latent  power. 
One  man  showed  mankind  the  use  to  which  it  could  be  put  and  all 
the  rest  profited  by  the  idea.  Shall  we  refuse  to  ride  upon  the  railroad 
or  cross  the  waters  in  an  ocean  greyhound  for  fear  of  employing  the 
conception  of  another?  Electricity  is  not  a  new  agency.  The  light- 
nings have  illumined  the  sky  from  the  dawn  of  creation,  and  the 
people  saw  in  them  only  cause  for  fear.  A  few  decades  ago  one  man 
thought  out  a  method  by  which  it  could  be  imprisoned  in  a  wire,  and 
now  widely  separated  lands  are  united  by  telegraph  lines,  while  cables 
traverse  the  ocean's  bed.  Shall  Ave  refuse  to  read  the  news  that  the 
current  carries  or  reject  a  message  from  home  because  we  must  employ 
an  idea  which  sprang  from  another's  brain?  He  is  stupid  who  re- 
jects  truth,  no  matter  from  what  source  it  comes;  tmV  nation  is 
blind  which  does  not  welcome  light  from  anywhere  and  everywhere, 
it  is  to  the  glory,  not  to  the  shame,  of  the  land  of  the  Rising  Sun  that 
her  people  have  been  quick  to  obey  the  injunction,  "Prove  all  things: 
hold  fasl   thai   which  is  good." 


CHAPTER  V. 

INDUSTRIES,   ARTS   AND   COMMERCE. 

The  basis  of  Japanese  industry  is  agricultural,  although  each  year 
shows  a  decreasing  proportion  engaged  in  the  tilling  of  the  soil.  Rice 
is  the  principal  product,  but  owing  to  the  large  amount  consumed  at 
home  it  is  not  the  chief  export.  As  this  crop  needs  an  abundance  of 
water,  the  rice  fields  occupy  the  low  lands  and  the  mountain  gorges. 
Sometimes  the  "narrow  valleys  that  pierce  the  ranges  are  so  terraced 
as  to  look  like  steps,  and  at  this  time  of  the  year  when  the  crop  is  being 
harvested,  they  resemble  golden  stairs.  The  men  and  women  work  to- 
gether in  the  field,  and  in  many  places  we  saw  them  standing  almost 
knee  deep  in  mud,  cutting  the  grain  with  old  fashioned  hand-sickles. 
The  rice  is  tied  in  bundles  somewhat  smaller  than  our  wheat  sheaves, 
and  hung  over  poles  or  laid  along  the  edge  of  a  terrace  to  cure.  If  the 
threshing  is  delayed  the  grain  is  stacked,  not  as  we  stack  wheat  and 
oats  in  the  United  States,  but  in  little  columns  with  the  heads  of  the 
sheaves  tied  to  a  pole  in  the  center.  Sometimes  the  stacks  are  built 
around  a  living  tree.  The  grain  is  separated  from  the  straw  by  means 
of  a  long  toothed  comb,  and  at  this  season  innumerable  groups  of  per- 
sons are  busily  engaged  at  this  work.  The  yellow  heaps  of  rice  in  the 
hull,  looking  from  a  distance  like  wheat,  can  be  seen  from  the  train 
and  from  the  country  roads.  Straw  mats  are  used  to  keep  the  grain 
off  the  ground  and,  I  may  add,  the  mat  is  in  evidence  everywhere 
in  Japan  and  is  used  for  all  sorts  of  purposes 

The  cultivation  of  the  tea  plant  is  an  industry  of  no  small  magni- 
tude, although  not  so  universal  as  the  cultivation  of  rice.  The  tea 
fields  occupy  the  higher  levels  and  add  an  interesting  variety  to  the 
landscapes.  At  one  point  on  the  railroad  between  Yokohama  and 
Nagoya  the  hillsides  are  covered  with  tea  plantations,  if  such  tiny  farms 
can  be  called  plantations.  The  tea  plant  is  something  like  our  goose- 
berry and  currant  bushes  in  size,  but  the  foliage  is  much  thicker.  The 
leaves  vary  widely  in  value,  from  the  cheaper  grades,  which  are  ox- 

61 


62  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND   ITS   WAYS 

ported,  i"  the  Uji  which  costs  what  is  equivalent  to  five  or  more  dollars 
per  pound. 

Some  cotton  is  grown  here,  but  the  cotton  plant  as  we  saw  it  is 
small  compared  with  our  plant,  and  the  tillable  area  is  too  limited  to 
admit  of  the  growing  of  cotton  on  a  large  scale 

Tobacco  is  cultivated  to  some  extent,  but  the  sale  of  manufactured 
tobacco  is  a  government  prerogative. 

Raw  silk  is  by  far  the  most  valuable  export,  thirty-five  million  dol- 
lars' worth  having  been  sent  abroad  last  year.  Three-fifths  of  the  entire 
export  goes  to  the  United  States,  the  remainder  to  Europe,  with  France 
as  the  largesl  European  purchaser.  As  fifteen  million  dollars'  worth 
of  silk  fabrics  went  abroad  also,  as  against  five  million  dollars'  worth 
of  tea  and  four  million  dollars'  worth  of  rice,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
cultivation  of  the  silk  worm  and  the  mulberry  tree  is  extensively 
carried  on.  The  silk  worms  are  kept  indoors  and  the  leaves  brought 
in  to  them.     "When  put  outdoors  the  silk  worms  are  devoured  by  bird-. 

Fruits  grow  here  in  great  variety.  We  have  found  everywhere  apples 
of  excellent  quality,  raised  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  islands,  while 
the  southern  island-  produce  oranges,  bananas  and  pineapples.  The 
apple  tree  was  imported  from  America  about  thirty-five  years  ago;  now 
apples  are  exported  to  China  and  Siberia.  The  most  popular  orange  is 
the  tangerine,  or  kid  glove  orange  as  it  is  sometimes  called:  many  of 
these  are  exported. 

There  is  a  kind  of  fruit  called  the  ban-tan  grown  on  the  island  of 
Kyushu.  It  looks  something  like  the  grape  fruit,  but  grows  consid- 
erably larger  and  has  a  thicker  skin ;  the  meat  is  pink  in  color,  sweeter 
and  less  juicy  than  the  grape  fruit.  Pears  grow  here;  one  variety  looks 
like  a  russet  apple  in  shape  and  color.  Peach  trees  are  sometimes 
trained  as  we  train  grape  vines  on  an  arbor,  so  that  the  orchard  seems 
to  have  a  flat   roof  of  foliage. 

They  have  here.  too.  persimmons  as  large  as  apples  and  as  solid.  "We 
found  these  on  the  table  in  all  parts  of  the  island  and  there  are  several 
varieties.  The  grape  i-  cultivated  in  Japan,  but  we  did  not  see  grape 
vines  in  such  profusion  as  they  are  seen  in  southern  Europe,  along  the 
lakes  in  western  New  York  or  in  California.  And.  in  this  connection, 
I  may  add  that  wine  is  not  used  here  to  the  extent  that  it  is  in  some 
other  countries,  the  national  drink,  sake,  being  made  from  fermented 
rice.  Ordinarily  tin-  beverage  contains  from  eleven  to  fourteen  per 
cent  of  alcohol,  but  there  is  a  stronger  kind  called  shochu,  which  con- 
tain- ;i.-  much  a-  fifty  pei-  cent  of  alcohol.  Tt  is  evident,  however,  that 
liquor  by  any  other  name  can  be  as  intoxicating  as  our  whisky,  and 


[NDUSTRIES,    ART    AND    COMMERCE  63 

we  found  .it  Tokyo  a  national  temperance  society  with  branches  through- 
out the  empire.  Mr.  Ando,  the  president  of  this  society,  \s  a  Japanese 
gentleman  of  greal  earnestness  and  intelligence,  who  was  converted  to 

Christianity  a  few  years  ago  when  he  was  representing  his  country  in 
Honolulu.  While,  as  I  have  stated  in  another  article,  I  have  seen  no 
evidences  of  drunkenness,  Mr.  Ando  informs  me  that  his  society  has 
ample  work  to  do.  I  carry  back  with  me  a  badge  which  the  society 
gave  me  on  learning  of  my  total  abstinence  habits.  I  have  only  men- 
tioned the  leading  products  of  the  field,  but  I  can  not  leave  the  culti- 
vators of  the  soil  without  a  word  concerning  the  gardens.  They  are 
so  cute,  occupying  as  they  do  the  little  nooks  and  corners  that  can  not 
be  utilized  for  the  large  crops.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  a  square 
inch  of  ground  wasted.  The  vegetables  are  planted  in  rows  which  arc 
either  straight  or  curved,  never  crooked,  and  we  have  scarcely  seen  a 
weed.  Fertilizer  is  extensively  used,  being  kept  in  stone  or  cement  vats 
protected  from  the  weather  by  a  straw  colored  shed.  Near  the  cities 
the  soil  is  enriched  by  the  refuse  from  closets  which  is  collected  and 
carried  away  during  the  night.  The  introduction  of  sewage  systems 
has  been  somewhat  impeded  in  some  cities  by  the  fact  that  sewage 
would  be  an  expense  while  closets  are  now  a  source  of  profit.  It  must 
be  confessed,  however,  that  the  present  system  tends  to  make  fresh 
vegetables  unpopular  with  the  tourist. 

Most  travelers  land  at  Yokohama  and  depart  at  Kobe,  or  land  at 
Kobe  and  depart  at  Yokohama,  these  being  the  two  principal  port.-. 
As  these  are  about  300  miles  apart,  one  has  a  chance  to  see  much  of 
the  farming  land  from  the  railroad.  The  side  trips  from  Tokyo  to 
Nikko,  from  Yokohama  to  Miyanoshita  and  from  Kyoto  to  Nara,  give 
additional  opportunities  for  seeing  the  farmer  at  work,  but  the  ride 
from  Kobe  west  to  Shimonoseki  surpasses  any  of  these  in  interest  and 
in  beauty  of  scenery.  As  this  route  leads  along  the  sea  coast  as  well 
as  through  densely  populated  valleys,  there  is  greater  variety.  Now 
one  skirts  the  inland  sea,  with  its  numerous  islands,  its  transparent 
waters,  its  little  harbors  and  its  fleets  of  fishing  boats;  now  he  winds  his 
way  along  a.  stream  with  falls  and  rapids  and  spanned  by  frail  foot 
bridges  or  by  stone  wagon  bridges.  On  the  one  side  he  sees  a  bamboo 
grove  and  on  the  other  a  tiny  graveyard  or  a  little  hill  dedicated  to  a 
Shinto  shrine — stone  steps  ascending  along  a  shaded  path  from  the 
sacred  gate,  which  invariably  marks  the  entrance  to  holy  ground.  In 
passing  over  this  railroad  route  one  gathers  a  large  amount  of  informa- 
tion concerning  the  industries  of  the  sea  coast,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
inland,  and  besides  one  can  visit  the  Shimonoseki  Strait  which  is  of 


u 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


historic  interest  to  Americans.  The  Sanyo  railroad,  which  connects  Kobe 
and  Shimonoseki,  is  well  equipped  and  well  managed  and  has  built 


JAPANESE  WATER  CARRIER. 


an  excellent  hotel,  The  Sanyo,  at  Shimonoseki  for  the  accommodation 
of  its  patrons.  From  this  point  a  steamer  runs  to  Fusan,  the  nearest 
Korean  port,  where  direct  connection  is  made  for  Seoul,  the  Korean 


INDUSTRIES,    ART    AND    COMMERCE  65 

capital.  From  Moji,  just  across  the  strait  from  Shimonoseki,  one 
can   take   a  train   to    Nagasaki,   the   western   seaport  of  Japan.      At 

Shimonoseki  one  is  .shown  the  house  in  which  Marquis  Ito  and  Li 
Hung  Chang  drafted  the  Japanese-Chinese  treaty   in   1894. 

Mining  is  an  industry  of  considerable  importance  here.  Gold, 
silver  and  copper  are  found  in  paying  quantities.  More  than  six 
million  dollars'  worth  of  copper  was  exported  last  year.  One  of  the 
gold  fields  on  the  island  of  Kyushu,  near  Kagoshima,  gives  promise 
of  considerable  richness.  Coal  is  found  in  such  abundance  that  the 
exports  of  this  commodity  have  amounted  to  nearly  ten  million  dob 
lars  in  a  single  year.  A  hard  quality  of  smokeless  coal  has  recently 
been  discovered  in  western  .Japan. 

The  islands  also  produce  a  number  of  varieties  of  valuable  woods. 
The  camphor  tree  grows  to  an  enormous  size,  a  gigantic  statue  of 
the  Goddess  of  Mercy  in  one  of  the  temples  at  Kamakura  beine 
carved  from  a  single  camphor  log.  The  value  of  the  camphor  ex- 
ported from  Japan  last  year  exceeded  a  million  and  a  half  dollars. 
Among  the  hard  woods  suitable  for  carving,  cherry  seems  to  be  the 
most  popular. 

Of  all  the  trees,  however,  the  bamboo  is  the  most  useful.  Just  at 
this  time  when  the  returning  soldiers  are  being  welcomed,  it  is  present 
everywhere  in  the  form  of  flag  poles,  and  there  is  nothing  that  equals 
it  for  this  purpose;  long,  slender,  light  and  strong,  it  is  just  the  thing 
for  flags  and  banners,  and  when  a  little  plume  of  leaves  is  left  ai 
the  top,  it  is  still  more  beautiful.  The  bamboo  is  used  for  water 
pipes  and  for  fences,  for  furniture  and  picture  tubes,  for  dipper-, 
baskets,  fishing  poles,  flower  vases,  candlesticks,  wicker  work,  etc.,  etc. 

In  wood  carving  the  Japanese  have  long  been  skilled.  Specimens 
of  work  done  hundreds  of  years  ago  and  testifying  to  their  taste,  no 
less  than  to  their  deftness  of  hand,  may  be  seen  in  their  ancient  palaces 
and  temples. 

Stone  cutting  is  also  an  ancient  industry  here.  There  is  an 
abundance  of  stone  and  granite,  while  the  lanterns.  Korean  lions  and 
sacred  gates  have  furnished  subjects  for  many  a  chisel.  Osaka  seems 
to  be  the  center  of  the  stone  cutting  industry. 

The  iron  industry  is  represented  by  an  increasing  number  of  es- 
tablishments. In  many  instances  workmen  have  been  brought  from 
abroad  and  employed  until  Japanese  artisans  were  sufficiently  trained 
to  take  their  place.  Much  of  the  iron  work  is  still  done  in  little 
shops  and  by  hand,  although  machinery  is  being  imported  in  large 
quantities. 


60  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

I  visited  a  tannery  at  Kagoshima  and  found  that  the  proprietor 
had  spent  seven  years  in  America  learning  the  business,  and  that 
on  his  return  he  had  taught  native  help  each  branch  of  the  business. 
He  is  now  turning  out  an  excellent  product. 

One  of  the  most  promising  industries  in  Japan  is  cotton  spinning. 
There  are  a  number  of  factories  already  in  operation  and  new  ones 
are  building.  I  visited  one  of  the  plants  of  the  Osaka  Nippon  Boseki 
Kaisha  at  Osaka,  This  company  has  about  seventy  thousand  spin- 
dles and  the  mills  employ  nothing  but  native  labor.  Foreign  artisans 
were  used  in  the  beginning,  but  are  no  longer  needed.  A  great  many 
women  are  employed  and  some  children;  for  the  latter  a  school  is 
maintained  for  two  hours  a  day  in  the  building.  Cotton  yarn  is, 
now  selling  for  about  forty  cents  a  pound  and  is  becoming  one  of 
the  leading  articles  of  export;  China  is  the  largest  purchaser.  Some 
idea  of  the  growth  of  this  branch  of  industry  can  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  the  exports  of  cotton  yarn  amounted  to  less  than  four 
thousand  dollars  in  1891  and  1892;  in  1896  it  had  grown  to  over 
two  millions,  in  1898  to  over  ten  millions,  and  during  the  last  two 
years  it  has  averaged  about  fifteen  millions. 

At  Osaka  I  also  visited  a  brush  industry  and  found  that  from 
bones,  imported  from  the  slaughter  houses  of  America,  and  from 
bristles,  purchased  in  Russia  and  in  China,  they  made  tooth,  nail  and 
hair  brushes  for  export  to  both  Europe  and  America.  Here,  too,  they 
have  dispensed  with  the  foreign  labor  which  they  employed  in  the 
beginning. 

Earthenware  is  manufactured  in  abundance  and  of  every  variety. 
The  exports  of  porcelain  and  earthenware  reached  almost  two  million 
dollars  last  year.  In  Kyoto  we  visited  a  pottery  and  found  two  rooms 
in  which  the  finished  product  was  displayed;  the  first  contained  beauti- 
ful specimens  of  Japanese  skill,  graceful  in  shape  and  dainty  in  decora- 
tion; the  second  was  filled  with  big  pieces  in  loud  colors  and  of  in- 
ferior workmanship.  These  last  articles,  we  were  informed,  were  made 
especially  for  the  American  trade. 

Some  beautiful  porcelain  work  is  done  in  Kyoto,  the  decoration  rep- 
resenting a  high  degree  of  artistic  skill. 

One  of  the  most  famous  kinds  of  china  produced  by  Japan  is  known 
as  Satsuma  ware,  the  glazing  of  which  is  of  a  peculiar  tint  and  has  a 
crackled  appearance.  The  secret  of  the  manufacture  of  this  ware  was 
brought  from  Korea  by  the  captives  taken  in  war  some  three  hundred 
years  ago,  and  the  industry  still  flourishes  in  Japan,  although  it  has 
perished  in  Korea.     Kagoshima  is  the  center  for  Satsuma  ware,  and  a 


INDUSTRIES,    ART    AND    COMMERCE  67 

colony  of  Koreans  living  aear  there,  as  well  as  Japanese  manufacturers, 
produce  excellent  specimens. 

Lacquer  work  has  been  done  in  Japan  from  time  immemorial,  sam- 
ples of  which,  centuries  old,  can  be  seen  in  temples,  palaces  and  muse- 
ums. When  gold  and  silver  arc  used  in  connect  ion  with  the  lacquer 
the  product  is  often  very  valuable. 

The  bronzes  produced  in  the  little  shops  scattered  over  Japan  give 
play  to  the  artistic  taste  which  one  finds  here.  Osaka  and  Kyoto  are 
noted  for  their  bronzes.  Sometimes  various  metals  are  inlaid  in  the 
forms  of  flowers,  birds,  animals  and  landscape-,  producing  a  most  pleas- 
ing effect.  Then  there  are  damascene  factories  and  places  for  em- 
broidery and  for  pictures  made  in  cut  velvet,  etc.,  etc. 

No  one  can  pass  through  Japan  without  being  impressed  with  the 
taste,  which  seems  to  be  national,  and  with  the  delicate  skill  which  has 
been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  And  nothing,  in 
my  judgment,  more  clearly  exhibits  this  union  of  taste  and  skill  than 
the  Cloisonne  work.  Upon  a  metallic  base,  as  a  vase,  placque  or  box.  an 
artist  draws  a  design;  this  design  is  then  outlined  with  fine  wires  of 
gold  and  silver,  then  enamels  of  various  colors  are  filled  in.  When  the 
enamels  are  hardened  and  the  whole  polished,  the  product  is  a  thing 
of  marvelous  beauty. 

I  have  not  space  to  speak  of  the  minor  industries,  such  as  paper 
making,  matches  (in  which  Japan  monopolizes  the  trade  of  the  East). 
fans,  umbrellas,  lanterns,  napkins,  etc.  The  Japanese  lantern  which  we 
use  for  ornamentation  is  here  a  practical  thing,  in  daily,  or  rather 
nightly,  use.  These  lanterns  hang  in  front  of  the  houses  and  are  carried 
on  the  streets.  They  are  also  used  for  illumination  on  festive  occasions , 
at  the  time  of  the  naval  review  and  the  reception  to  Admiral  Togo. 
Yokohama  and  Tokyo  were  illuminated  by  these  lanterns  as  I  never  saw 
an  American  city  lighted. 

When  Japan  was  opened  to  the  commerce  of  the  world,  there  were  few 
business  houses  or  trading  establishments  of  any  size.  Now  there  are 
several  department  stores  and  large  wholesale  houses,  besides  manu- 
facturing and  trading  companies  of  importance.  One  business  man  in 
Tokyo.  Mr.  K.  Okura,  has  a  private  collection  of  curios  valued  at  one 
million  dollars,  which  he  offered  to  sell  in  Europe  or  America,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  given  to  the  government  for  carrying  on  the  war  against 
Russia.  Osaka  has  a  successful  business  man  who  has  earned  the  name 
of  the  "Japanese  Carnegie"  by  giving  a  fine  library  building  to  that 
city. 

Consul  General  Miller,  at  Yokohama,  and  Consul  Sharp,  at  Kobe, 


<»*  THE    OLD    WORLD    AXD    ITS    WAYS 

furnished   me  with  interesting  statistics  regarding  the  commerce  of 

Japan.  Exports  have  increased  from  about  eighty  millions  in  1891  to 
about  three  hundred  and  twenty  millions  in  1904;  during  the  same 
period  imports  increased  from  a  little  more  than  sixty-three  millions 
to  a  little  more  than  three  hundred  and  seventy-one  millions.  "While 
our  country  sells  less  to  Japan  than  Great  Britain  and  British  India, 
she  buys  more  than  any  other  nation  from  Japan.  Our  chief  ex- 
ports to  Japan  last  year  were  electric  motors,  locomotive  engines,  steam 
boilers  and  engines,  iron  pipes,  nails,  lead,  oil,  paraffine  wax,  cotton 
drills,  cotton  duck,  raw  cotton,  tobacco,  coal,  cars,  turning  lathes, 
condensed  milk,  flour  and  wheat.  Of  these  items,  flour,  raw  cotton 
and  oil  were  by  far  the  most  valuable,  each  amounting  to  more  than 
four  and  a  half  million  dollars. 

In  the  ocean  carrying  trade,  Japan  is  making  rapid  strides.  In 
ten  years  her  registered  steamers  have  increased  from  four  hundred 
and  sixty-one  to  twelve  hundred  and  twenty-four  and  her  sailing  ves- 
sels from  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  to  three  thousand  five  hundred 
and  twenty-three.  There  are  now  two  hundred  private  ship  yards  in 
Japan,  and  in  1903  they  built  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  ves- 
sels. The  Japan  Mail  Steamship  Company  has  a  paid-up  capital  of 
eleven  million  dollars,  runs  steamers  between  Japan,  America,  Europe 
and  Asia  and  pays  a  ten  per  cent  dividend  on  it-  capital.  The  Osaka 
Mercantile  Steamship  Company  (Osaka  Shosen  Kaisha)  has  a  paid-up 
capital  of  nearly  three  and  a  half  million  dollars,  owns  about  one  hun- 
dred vessels  and  pays  a  dividend  of  ten  per  cent.  These  are  the  largest 
companies,  but  there  are  many  smaller  ones,  some  paying  dividends 
of  sixteen   and  twenty  per  cent. 

I  will  close  this  article  with  the  suggestion  that  the  mercantile 
marine  seems  likely  to  show  large  growth  in  the  future,  offering, 
as  it  does,  a  legitimate  field  for  national  expansion. 

Japan's  fishing  industries  furnish  a  training  for  seamen  and  her 
people  seem  at  home  upon  the  water.  She  needs  more  territory  for 
her  expanding  population  and  has  about  reached  the  limit  in  the 
cultivation  of  her  tillable  land.  Every  additional  ship  manned  by  her 
citizens  is  like  a  new  island,  rising  from  the  waves,  upon  which  her 
increasing  population  can  be  supported.  If  she  seeks  to  acquire  land 
in  any  direction,  she  finds  her  efforts  contested  by  the  inhabitants 
already  there;  no  wonder  she  hails  with  delight  these  floating  farms 
constructed  by  the  genius  of  her  own  people — new  land,  as  it  were, 
won  and  held  without  the  sacrifice  of  war. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM  AND  RELIGIONS. 


Back  of  Japan's  astonishing  progress  along  material  lines  lies  her 
amazing  educational  development.  Fifty  years  ago  but  few  of  her 
people  could  read  or  write;  now  considerably  less  than  ten  per  cenl 
would  be  classed  as  illiterate.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  such  a 
transformation'  taking  place  almost  within  a  generation.  The 
prompt  adoption  of  western  methods  and  the  rapid  assimilation  of 
western  ideas  give  indubitable  proof  of  the  pre-existence  of  a  vital 
national  germ.  A  pebble  dropped  into  soil,  however  rich,  and  cul- 
tivated, no  matter  how  carefully,  gives  back  no  response  to  the  rays 
of  the  springtime  sun.  Only  the  seed  which  has  life  within  can 
be  awakened  and  developed  by  light  and  warmth  and  care.  Japan 
had  within  her  the  vital  spark,  and  when  the  winter  of  her  isola- 
tion was  passed,  her  latent  energies  burst  forth  into  strong  and 
sturdy  growth. 

Her  sons,  ambitious  to  know  the  world,  scattered  themselves 
throughout  Europe  and  America,  and  having  laden  themselves  with 
new  ideas,  returned  to  apply  them  at  home.  In  this  way  Japan 
constantly  gained  from  every  quarter  and  her  educational  system 
is  modeled  after  the  best  that  the  ages  have  produced.  She  has  her 
primary  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  attendance  being  compulsory, 
and  below  these  in  many  places  there  are  kindergarten  schools.  The 
middle  schools,  in  which  the  boys  and  girls  are  separated,  take  up 
the  course  of  instruction  where  the  primary  schools  leave  off. 

Then  follow  the  universities,  of  which  there  are  seven  under  the 
control  of  the  government.  Besides  these  there  are  in  the  cities 
institutions  known  as  higher  commercial  schools,  which  combine  gen- 
eral instruction  with  such  special  studies  as  are  taught  in  our  com- 
mercial  colleges.  There  are  also  a  number  of  normal  schools  for 
the   training  of  teachers.     In   addition   to   the  schools   and   colleges 


EDUCATIONAL    SYSTEM  71 

established  and  conducted  by  the  government,  there  are  a  number 
founded  by  individuals  and  societies.  The  largest  of  these  is  Waseda 
College,  founded  and  .-till  maintained  by  Count  Okunia.  the  leader  of 
the  progressive  party.  It  is  adjoining  the  home  of  the  count  and  is 
built  upon  land  which  he  donated.  Dr.  Hatoyama,  at  one  time 
speaker  of  the  national  house  of  representatives,  who  holds  a  degree 
from  Yale  College,  is  the  official  head  of  this  institution:  in  all  of 
its  departments  it  has  some  five  thousand  students. 

I  have  referred  in  a  former  article  to  the  Keio  Gijuku,  the  college 
founded  by  Mr.  Fukuzawa.  The  attendance  here  is  not  so  large  as 
at  Waseda,  but  the  institution  has  had  an  illustrious  career  and  ex- 
erts a  wide  influence  upon  the  country.  I  visited  both  of  these  col- 
leges and  never  addressed  more  attentive  or  responsive  audiences. 
As  English  is  taught  in  all  the  middle  schools,  colleges  and  univer- 
sities, the  students  are  able  to  follow  a  speech  in  that  language  with- 
out an  interpreter. 

The  state  university  at  Tokyo  includes  six  departments — law, 
medicine  and  engineering  courses  being  provided,  as  well  as  courses 
in  literature,  science  and  agriculture.  The  total  number  of  students 
enrolled  at  this  university  is  about  thirty-five  hundred.  The  national 
university  at  Kyoto  has  three  faculties — law.  medicine  and  science — 
the  last  named  including  engineering;  the  attendance  at  this  univer- 
sity is  between  six  and  seven  hundred.  In  the  states  of  Choshu  and 
Satsuma  there  are  higher  schools  supported  by  funds  given  by  former 
feudal  lords  of  those  states. 

The  education  of  girls  is  not  neglected,  although  as  a  rule  the 
girls  do  not  go  as  far  in  their  studies  as  the  boys.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  normal  schools  and  seventy-nine  high  schools  for  girls,  besides 
the  Peeresses'  school  and  several  private  institutions.  The  Woman's 
University  of  Tokyo,  situated  near  AYaseda  College  and  under  the 
patronage  of  Count  Okuma,  has  had  a  phenomenal  career.  Estab- 
lished only  five  years  ago,  it  has  now  an  enrollment  of  some  seven 
hundred,  and  is  putting  up  several  new  buildings. 

There  are  also  a  number  of  missionary  schools  and  colleges. 
The  Presbyterians  support  three  boarding  schools  for  boys  and  eleven 
for  girls,  besides  ten  day  schools:  the  total  attendance  at  these  schools 
is  nearly  twenty-three  hundred. 

The  Congregationalists  have  a  number  of  schools,  the  largest,  1  ><>- 
shisha  College  at  Kyoto,  being  the  most  influential  Christian  institu- 
tion in  Japan.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  both  this  college  and 
Kvoto  Universitv. 


72  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS. 

The  Methodists  have  eighteen  boarding  schools  and  nineteen  day 
schools  with  a  total  attendance  of  nearly  five  thousand.  Their  col- 
lege at  Kobe  is  a  very  promising  institution. 

The  Baptists  have  a  theological  seminary,  an  academy,  five  boarding 
schools  for  girls  and  eight  day  schools,  with  a  total  attendance  of 
pearly  a  thousand.  The  Episcopal  Church  has  also  taken  an  im- 
portant part  in  educational  work,  while  the  Catholics  (who  were  first 
on  the  ground)  have  over  sixty  seminaries,  schools  and  orphanages, 
with  an  attendance  of  some  six  thousand. 

The  Japanese  government  supports  more  than  twenty-five  thou- 
sand primary  schools,  attended  by  over  five  million  boys  and  girls; 
it  supports  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  middle  schools,  with  an 
attendance  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand.  While  less  than  two 
per  cent  of  the  primary  students  enter  the  middle  schools,  more  than 
ten  per  cent  of  the  middle  school  students  enter  the  higher  colleges. 

Although  these  figures  give  some  idea  of  the  interest  taken  in  edu- 
cation, they  do  not  furnish  an  adequate  conception  of  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  a  large  number  of  these  students  pursue  their  studies. 
Nearly  fifty  young  men  called  upon  me  or  wrote  to  me  asking  to  be 
taken  to  America  that  they  might  continue  their  studies.  Many  of 
the  leading  men  in  Japan  to-day  are  graduates  of  American  or 
European  colleges.  The  physicians  have  shown  a  preference  for 
German  schools,  while  to  engineers  and  politicians  our  universities 
have  been  more  attractive.  A  part  of  the  friendliness  felt  toward 
foreigners  can  be  traced  to  the  favors  shown  Japanese  boys  who  left 
home  in  search  of  knowledge.  Marquis  Ito,  one  of  the  first  of  these, 
owes  much  to  an  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  England  in 
whose  home  he  lived  as  a  student,  and  the  marquis  has  ever  since 
been  making  returns  in  kindness  to  foreigners  and  Christians. 

Marquis  Ito's  case  is  not  exceptional;  all  over  Japan  are  men  who 
hold  in  grateful  remembrance  Americans  and  Europeans  to  whom 
they  are  indebted  for  assistance.  I  met  a  man,  now  the  publisher  of 
an  influential  paper,  who  twenty  years  ago,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
went  to  sea  and  in  a  shipwreck  was  cast  upon  one  of  the  islands  in 
the  South  Pacific.  He  became  a  retainer  for  the  king  of  the  islands 
and  as  such  wore  the  scanty  native  dress,  consisting  of  a  loin  cloth. 
He  went  with  his  king  to  Honolulu  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Hawaiian 
queen,  and  finding  a  Japanese  settlement  there,  remained  for  two  or 
three  years.  He  then  went  to  the  United  States  and,  making  a  friend 
of  a  professor  in  one  of  the  universities,  attended  school  there  for 
several   years.     He  now  visits  the  United  States  every  year  or  so  on 


EDUCATIONAL    SYSTEM  73 

business,  and  one  seeing  him  wearing  a  silk  hat  and  a  Prince  Albert 
coat  would  hardly  guess  the  experiences  through  which  he  ha.-  risen 
to  his  present  position.  If  Japan,  beginning  fifty  years  ago  with  no 
educational  system  and  scarcely  any  educated  men  or  women,  could 
accomplish  what  she  has  accomplished  in  half  a  century,  what  will 
she  accomplish  in  the  twentieth  century,  with  the  start  which  she  now 
has  and  with  the  educational  advantages  which  her  people  now  enjoy? 

Japan  has  several  religions,  although  Shintoism  has  been,  since 
1868,  the  state  religion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Shintoism 
can  hardly  be  called  a  religion  for  it  has  no  creed,  no  priesthood  and 
no  code  of  morals.  It  is  really  ancestor  worship  and  comes  down 
from  time  immemorial.  It  implies  a  belief  in  immortality,  for  tin- 
ancestral  spirits  are  invoked  and  vows  are  paid  to  them  at  the  num- 
berless shrines  that  dot  the  country.  These  shrine-  are  not  usually 
in  temples,  although  sometimes  Shintoism  and  Buddhism  have  been 
mixed  together"  and  one  temple  employed  for  both  shrines;  as  a  rule, 
however,  the  Shinto  shrine  is  in  some  secluded  spot  on  the  top  of  a  hill 
or  on  a  mountain  side  where  a  bit  of  natural  scenery  awakens  a  spirit 
of  reverence.  A  gate  of  simple  but  beautiful  design  is  placed  at  the 
point  where  the  pathway  to  the  shrine  departs  from  the  main  road. 
We  had  read  of  these  Shinto  gates  and  had  -ecu  pictures  of  them, 
but  we  first  saw  one  at  Honolulu,  itself  the  gateway  to  the  Orient. 
No  description  can  convey  to  the  reader  the  impression  which  this 
gate  makes  upon  the  traveler;  its  outlines  are  so  graceful  and  yet  so 
strong  that  it  seems  an  appropriate  portal  to  a  holy  place. 

The  moral  code  of  Confucius  has  also  influenced  the  thought  of 
Japan. 

About  fourteen  hundred  years  ago  the  Buddhist  religion  was  in- 
troduced into  Japan  by  Chinese  priests,  and  it  spread  rapidly  through- 
out the  islands.  Its  temples  were  imposing,  its  ceremonies  impressive 
and  the  garb  of  its  priests  costly  and  elaborate.  Tt  did  not  root  out 
Shintoism,  it  simply  overwhelmed  and  absorbed  it.  The  Buddhisl 
temples,  though  not  as  popular  as  they  once  were,  are  still  visited  by 
millions  of  believers  and  are  objects  of  interest  to  the  tourist.  Most 
of  them  are  old,  one  at  Nara  having  been  built  about  the  year  700. 
It  is  in  such  an  excellent  state  of  preservation  that  one  can  hardh 
believe  that  it  has  stood  the  storms  of  twelve  centuries. 

In  the  center  of  the  temple  is  an  image  of  Buddha,  and  on  cither 
side  the  figure  of  a  huge  warrior.  There  is  also  in  tin-  temple  a  God 
of  War  to  which  the  Japanese  were  wont  to  pay  their  vows  before 


74 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


going  to  battle.  The  devout  Buddhist,  approaching  the  image  of  the 
founder  of  his  religion,  bows  and  mutters  a  prayer,  half  audibly, 
and,  throwing  his  mite  in  a  box  or  on  the  floor  before  the  shrine, 
departs.  There  is  usually  a  bell,  or  sometimes  only  a  chain,  hanging 
above  the  place  where  prayers  are  said,  and    the    suppliant    swings 

a  rope  against  the  bell  or  shakes 
the  chain  before  his  prayer  and 
claps  his  hands  two  or  three  times 
at  its  close.  We  inquired  about  the 
bell  and  received  two  answers:  One, 
that  it  was  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  god,  and  the  other  that  it 
was  to  awaken  the  conscience  of 
the  one  about  to  present  his  peti- 
tion. 

Near  the  temple  at  Nara  stands 
an  ugly  image  which  never  fails  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  visitor. 
It  is  literally  covered  with  paper 
wads  which  have  been  thrown 
against  it  by  worshipers  at  the  tem- 
ple in  the  belief  that  their  pray- 
ers would  be  answered  if  the  wads 
adhered  to  the  image.  There  is  also 
at  Nara  a  huge  bell,  almost  as  old 
as  the  temple.  This  bell  is  about 
thirteen  feet  high,  nine  feet  in  di- 
ameter and  eight  inches  thick.  It 
hangs  in  a  pagoda  quite  near  the 
ground,  and  when  struck  upon  the 
side  by  a  swinging  log  gives  forth 
a  sound  of  wonderful  depth  and 
richness.  It  was  rung  for  us,  and 
as  its  mellow  tones  reverberated 
along  the  lulls  Ave  were  awed  by  the 
thought  that  a  thousand  years  be- 
fore our  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence was  written,  eight  hundred  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at 
Plymouth  Rock,  yes,  even  seven  hundred  years  before  America,  was 
discovered,   this  old  bell   was  calling  people  to  worship. 

There  i-  jif  Nara  an  immense  bronze  image  of  Buddha,  even  larger 


JAPANESE  STONE  LANTERN. 


EDUCATIONAL    SYSTEM 


75 


KOREAN  LION YES. 


than  the  famous  one  at  Kam- 

okura,  though  not  so  finely 
proportioned.  The  smaller 
one  is  forty-nine  feet  in 
height  and  nearly  one  hun- 
dred feel  in  circumference 
(both  represent  Buddha, 
seated  tailor-fashion,  on  a 
lotus  flower)  and  the  larger 
one  is  almost  twice  as  large 
as  the  smaller  one.  The  lan- 
tern of  stone  or  bronze  seems 
to  be  as  accessary  an  adjunct 
to  a  Buddhist  temple  as  the 
Shinto  gate  is  to  that  form 
of  religion.  At  Nara  there 
are  twenty-nine  hundred 
stone  lanterns  of  various 
sizes  along  the  walks  that  lead  from  one  temple  to  another,  and  they  arc 
found  in  abundance  in  other  cities.  The  Korean  lions  are  also  identi- 
fied with  Buddhistic  worship,  these  animals  wrought  in  bronze  or  carved 
in  stone  guarding  all  temple  doors.  They  are  not  as  ferocious  in  ap- 
pearance as  the  Numidian 
lion,  and  they  illustrate  an 
idea.  One  has  his  mouth 
open  and  the  other  has  his 
mouth  tightly  shut,  and 
they  together  represent  the 
affirmative  and  the  nega- 
tive, or,  in  other  words,  the 
eternal  conflict  between  the 
positive  and  the  negative — 
one  says  yes,  the  other  no. 
Nara  has  an  additional 
attraction  in  the  form  of  a 
beautiful  park  containing 
some  seven  hundred  deer, 
which  are  here  regarded  as 
sacred  animals.  They  are 
SO  gentle  that  they  will 
come,  old  and  young,  and 
eat  from  the  hand. 


KOREAN    LION NO. 


IX      FRONT     01-      XTKKO     TEMPLE JAPAN 


EM'CATIOXAL    SYSTEM  77 

Next  to  Nara,  in  our  opinion,  and  in  the  opinion  of  many  even  before 
Nara,  comes  Nikko  in  beauty  and  interest,.  The  spot  wn.-  wisely  chosen 
for  a  temple,  a  foaming  stream,  rugged  mountains  and  stately  trees 
adding  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  place.  There  is  a  shaded  avenue 
twenty-five  miles  long  leading  from  the  lowlands  to  the  temple,  and  il 
is  said  that  when  other  feudal  lords  were  bringing  stone  lanterns,  one 
poor  daimio,  unable  to  make  so  large  a  gift,  offered  to  plant  little  trees 
along  the  way;  these,  now  three  hundred  years  old.  furnish  a  grateful 
shade  for  the  pilgrims  who  visit  this  Mecca,  and  the  poor  tree  planter  is 
now  known  as  "The  Wise  Daimio  who  went  into  partnership  with 
Nature." 

The  temple  at  Nikko  is  only  about  three  centuries  old  and  its  decora- 
tions are  the  richest  and  most  costly  to  be  found  in  Japan.  As  the 
Buddhists  and  Shintoists  worship  together  here,  the  temple  is  kept  in 
repair  by  the  government  and  one  can  see  the  best  in  architecture  and 
ornamentation  that  the  temples  exhibit.  So  famous  are  this  temple  and 
its  environment  that  the  Japanese  have  a  phrase  which  when  trans- 
lated means,  "You  cannot  say  beautiful  (kekko)  until  you  have  seen 
Nikko." 

The  most  modern  of  the  large  temples  is  that  at  Kyoto.  It  was  erected 
about  thirty  years  ago  on  the  site  of  one  which  had  burned.  It  is  not 
so  large  as  the  original,  but  is  a  reproduction  in  other  respects  and  is  one 
of  the  thirty-three  temples  to  which  pilgrimages  are  made.  Some  esti- 
mate can  be  formed  of  the  ardor  of  those  who  worship  here  when  it  is 
known  that  the  immense  timbers  used  in  the  construction  of  the  build- 
ing were  dragged  through  the  streets  and  lifted  into  place  by  cable- 
made  of  human  hair  contributed  by  Japanese  women  for  that  purpose. 
One  of  these  cables,  nearly  three  inches  in  diameter  and  several  hun- 
dred feet  long,  is  still  kept  in  a  room  adjacent  to  the  temple,  the  others 
having  been  destroyed  by  fire.  Japanese  women  pride  themselves  upon 
their  hair  and  arrange  it  with  great  care.  What  a  poem  of  piety — what 
a  strong  sacrifice  in  these  myriad  strands  of  mingled  black  and  grey! 

All  of  the  Buddhist  temples  stand  within  a  walled  enclosure,  entered 
through  a  gorgeous  gate  which  contrasts  sharply  with  the  simplicity  of 
the  Shinto  gate.  The  Buddhist  gate  has  a  roof  resembling  a  temple 
roof  and  is  often  ornamented  with  animals,  birds  and  fantastic  figures 
carved  in  wood.  As  an  illustration  of  the  superstition  to  be  found 
among  the  ignorant,  the  following  incident  is  given:  An  American. 
Mr.  Frederick  W.  Home,  who  lives  at  Yokohama  and  who  has  built  up 
a.  large  importing  business  in  American  machinery,  has  a  handsome 
new  home  modeled  after  a  Buddhist  temple.     At  one  gable  he  put  a 


78  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 

devil's  head.  The  servants  of  the  man  living  next  door  threatened -to 
leave  because  the  devil  looked  over  into  that  yard.  But  they  were 
quieted  when  the  neighbor  put  two  brass  cannon  on  his  roof  and  pointed 
them  at  the  devil's  head.  The  story  seems  too  absurd  to  believe,  but 
we  were  shown  the  cannons  when  we  called  at  Mr.  Home's. 

But  Buddhism  is  losing  its  hold  upon  the  Japanese;  its  temples  are 
not  crowded  as  they  once  were;  its  ceremonies  do  not  interest  and  its 
teachings  do  not  satisfy  the  new  generation.  Christianity  will  appeal 
more  and  more  to  the  educated  element  of  the  Japanese  population. 
Already  favor  is  taking  the  place  of  toleration,  as  toleration  thirty  years 
ago  supplanted  persecution. 

The  Catholics,  who  have  been  the  pioneers  of  the  Cross  in  so  many 
lands,  brought  Christianity  to  Japan  through  their  missionaries  about 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  success  of  the  Jesuits  was 
so  pronounced  that  in  thirty  years  they  estimated  their  converts,  at 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  In  fact,  the  adherents  to  Chris- 
tianity became  so  numerous  and  so  influential  that  the  Shogun,  Hideyo- 
shi,  began  to  fear  for  his  temporal  power,  and,  having  absolute 
authority,  he  expelled  the  foreigners,  closed  the  ports  and  established 
the  policy  of  non-intercourse  with  other  nations — a  policy  which  was 
followed  until  1853.  When  the  country  was  again  opened  to  Christian 
missionaries  it  was  found  that  some  ten  thousand  men  and  women 
were  .-till  worshiping  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
although  for  two  and  a  half  centuries  there  had  been  no  communica- 
tion between  them  and  the  church  outside.  Even  after  the  opening  of 
the  country  to  foreign  commerce  there  was  some  persecution  of  Chris- 
tians and  several  thousand  were  imprisoned.  But  in  1873  the  prisoners 
were  set  at  liberty  and  the  exiles  allowed  to  return;  since  that  time 
there  has  been  absolute  religious  freedom  and  many  men  prominent 
in  official  life  have  been  devoted  Christians.  The  most  noted  of  these 
native  Christians  was  Mr.  Kataoka,  who  was  four  times  chosen  speaker 
of  the  popular  branch  of  the  Japanese  congress,  or  diet.  He  was  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  when  it  was  suggested  that  it 
would  advance  his  political  chances  to  resign  his  eldership,  he  replied 
thai  if  compelled  to  choose  between  them  he  would  rather  be  an  elder 
than  speaker. 

The  Catholic  population  of  Japan  numbered  fifty-eight  thousand 
in  1 903 ;  at  the  last  report  the  Protestant  communicants  numbered 
uearly  fifty-one  thousand.  There  are  among  the  natives  four 
hundred    and    forty-two   ordained   ministers,   five   hundred  and  fifty- 


EDUCATIONAL    SYSTEM  79 

nine  unordaincd  ministers  and  helpers,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  theological  students.  I  met  a  number  of  Japanese  Christians  and 
was  profoundly  impressed  by  their  earnestness  and  devotion.  There 
is  a  large  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Tokyo  and  a  smaller  one  at  Kyoto;  at  Kago- 
shima  I  found  a  Women's  Christian  Association.  While  I  have  met 
American  missionaries  everywhere,  I  have  tried  to  gather  information 
from  Japanese  sources  as  well  and  have  been  gratified  to  find  such 
cordial  co-operation  between  foreign  and  native  Christians.  A 
physician  in  the  navy  introduced  himself  and  volunteered  the  in- 
formation that  one  American  woman  had  undertaken  the  establish- 
ment of  Christian  clubs  at  the  various  naval  stations,  and  within 
five  years  had  gathered  together  more  than  five  hundred  members. 
He  said  that  she  met  with  opposition  from  the  authorities  at  first, 
but  now  has  their  hearty  support.  The  war  with  Russia,  while  re- 
tarding the  work  of  the  Greek  Church  among  the  Japanese,  has  been 
utilized  by  other  denominations  to  reach  a  large  number  of  sailors 
with  Bibles  and  pamphlets. 

Japan  needs  the  Christian  religion;  a  nation  must  have  some  re- 
ligion and  she  has  outgrown  Buddhism.  The  ideals  presented  by 
these  two  systems  are  in  many  respects  diametrically  opposed  to  each 
other.  One  looks  forward,  the  other  backward;  one  regards  life  as 
a  blessing  to  be  enjoyed  and  an  opportunity  to  be  improved,  the 
other  sees  in  it  only  evil  from  which  escape  should  be  sought;  one 
crowns  this  life  with  immortality,  the  other  adds  to  a  gloomy  exist- 
ence the  darker  night  of  annihilation;  one  offers  faith  as  the  inspira- 
tion to  noble  deeds,  the  other  presents  a  plan  for  the  perfecting  of 
self  with  no  sense  of  responsibility  to  God  to  prompt  it  or  promise  of 
reward  to  encourage  it;  one  enlarges  the  sympathies  and  links  each 
individual  with  all  other  human  beings,  the  other  turns  the  thought 
inward  in  search  of  perpetual  calm. 

Christianity  dominates  Europe  and  the  western  hemisphere,  while 
Buddhism  still  holds  the  Orient  under  its  drowsy  spell.  On  the 
islands  of  Japan  a  struggle  is  now  going  on  between  these  two  great 
religious  systems,  and  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel  of  Love  and  of  con- 
secrated activity  in  the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun  will  open  the  way  to 
a  still  larger  triumph  in  Asia. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION 


The  government  of  Japan  is  a  constitutional  monarchy  in  which 
the  emperor  not  only  claims  to  rule  by  divine  right  but  by  right  of 
divine  birth.  He  is  described  as  Heaven  born,  and  according  to  the 
accepted  history  there  has  been  no  break  in  the  family  line  for 
twenty-five  hundred  years.  Among  no  people  on  earth  has  there 
ever  been  more  universal  respect  shown,  or  implicit  obedience  yielded, 
to  the  reigning  family.  There  never  has  been  a  revolt  of  any  con- 
sequence against  the  emperor,  although  there  have  been  numerous 
conflicts  between  the  shoguns.  For  about  twelve  hundred  years,  from 
670  to  1868,  the  shoguns  were,  however,  the  actual  rulers,  and  while 
they  never  questioned  the  sovereignty  of  the  emperor,  they  did  not 
allow  him  to  retain  much  more  than  the  empty  title. 

The  shoguns  were  military  rulers  and  a  number  of  them  were  men 
of  great  force  and  executive  ability.  First,  the  Fujiwara  family  con- 
trolled the  country  through  the  shogunate  for  nearly  four  hundred 
years;  then  for  a  century  the  Taira  and  Minamoto  families  alternated 
in  the  exercise  of  power;  then  came  the  Hojo  family  and  others  of 
less  importance  until  finally  the  Tokugawa  family  became  supreme 
in  the  shogunate  and  continued  in  power  for  something  like  three 
hundred  years.  The  emperor  lived  at  Nara  until  about  1600,  when 
the  capital  was  moved  to  Kyoto,  where  it  remained  until  less  than 
forty  years  ago.  Tokyo,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  seat  of  the  sho- 
gun  power,  and  there  is  a  very  noticeable  difference  between  the  two 
cities.  The  shoguns  fortified  their  castles  and  required  the  feudal 
lords  to  keep  headquarters  in  Tokyo.  One  cannot  go  through  the 
palace  in  which  the  emperor  lived  permanently  without  noticing 
how  plain  it  is  as  compared  with  the  castle  (both  at  Kyoto)  in  which 
the  shogun  resided  for  a  few  days  during  his  annual  call  upon  the 
emperor.  While  it  may  seem  strange  that  the  real  rulers  never 
attempted  to  become  emperors  in  name,  it  only  shows  their  inteTli- 

80 


EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION  81 

gence,  for  by  not  insisting  upon  (lie  recognition  of  the  royal  family 
they  were  probably  more  successful  in  maintaining  the  real  authority 
than  they  would  have  been  had  they  questioned  the  divine  righl  of  the 
immemorial  rulers. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  there  began  to  be  a  re- 
action against  the  shogun,  and  when  he  agreed  to  the  treaties  opening 
the  country  to  foreign  intercourse,  his  action  was  taken  advantage 
ox  by  the  friends  of  the  emperor.  When  the  feudal  lords  of  Choshu 
attacked  the  foreign  ships  at  Shimonoseki  Strait,  the  shogun  was 
compelled  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  three  million  dollars  and  he  at- 
tempted to  chastise  the  Choshu  leaders.  His  forces  were  defeated  and 
he  died  soon  afterward.  The  emperor  seized  upon  this  event  and 
with  the  aid  of  the  influential  lords  of  Choshu  and  Satsuma  abolished 
the  shogunate  in  1868.  The  new  shogun  accepted  the  situation  with- 
out a  struggle  and  those  of  his  followers  who  attempted  a  resistance 
wevft  soon  routed. 

Everything  in  modern  Japan  dates  from  1868,  which  i.s  called  the 
restoration.  While  in  the  restoration  the  emperor  was  acknowledged 
as  the  sole  and  absolute  ruler  in  whom  all  authority  was  vested,  still 
it  was  reaily  the  beginning  of  constitutional  government,  for  the 
emperor  voluntarily  promised  his  people  a  constitution,  a  promise 
which  was  not  finally  fulfilled  until  188'.). 

The  fervor  of  patriotism  that  restored  to  the  emperor  his  original 
authority  wrought  wonders  in  Japan.  The  feudal  lords  came  for- 
ward and  vo.untarily  turned  their  vast  estates  over  to  the  emperor 
and  relinquished  ihe  authority  which  they  had  exercised  over  their 
tenants;  then  they  joined  with  the  samurai  (their  former  retainers) 
in  supporting  the  emperor  in  abolishing  all  social  distinctions.  From 
that  day  to  this  the  country  has  grown  more  and  more  democratic, 
the  reforms  working  from  the  upper  classes  down. 

In  1889  the  constitution  promised  by  the  emperor  was  promul- 
gated. It  was  prepared  largely  by  Marquis  Ito  who  visited  Germany 
and  modeled  the  document  after  the  Prussian  constitution.  The 
legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  diet  consisting  of  two  houses,  one  re- 
sembling the  English  house  of  lords,  and  the  other  resembling  our 
house  of  representatives.  The  upper  house  is  composed  of  the  princes 
of  the  royal  blood,  marquises  (these  sit  by  virtue  of  their  rank), 
counts,  viscounts  and  barons,  .elected  from  among  their  respective 
classes,  men  of  erudition  or  distinguished  service  appointed  by  the 
emperor,  and  one  representative  from  each  prefecture  or  state,  selected 
by  the  highest  taxpayers.     The  members  of  the  diet,  except  those  who 


82 


TUU    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


sit  by  virtue  of  their  rank,  receive  two  thousand  yen  (one  thousand 
dollars)  per  year.  The  members  of  the  house  of  representatives  are 
divided  among  the  states  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  franchise 
holders;  last  year  they  numbered  three  hundred  and  twenty-three 
and  were  voted  for  by  seven  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  fran- 
chise holders.  The  franchise  holders  numbered  less  than  ten  per 
cent  of  the  men  of  voting  age,  there  being  a  property  qualification 


ADMIRAL   TOGO. 


which  excludes  from  suffrage  more  than  nine-tenths  of  the  adult  males. 
The  emperor  appoints  the  governors  of  the  various  states,  and 
these  need  not  be  selected  from  the  states  over  which  they  preside. 
The  emperor  has  the  right  to  convoke  and  prorogue  the  diet  and  to 
dissolve  the  house  of  representatives;  he  also  has  the  right  to  issue 
urgency  ordinances  when  the  diet  is  not  in  session,  the  same  to  be 
submitted  for  approval  to  the  next  session. 


EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION  83 

The  constitution  contains  a  bill  of  rights.  Among  other  rights  the 
Japanese  subjects  shall  enjoy  freedom  of  religious  belief  "within 
limits  not  prejudicial  to  peace  and  order  and  not  antagonistic  to  their 
duties  as  subjects,"  and  "within  the  limits  of  law"  they  shall  enjoy 
"the  liberty  of  speech,  writing,  publication,  public  meeting  and  as- 
sociation." After  the  Tokyo  riots  which  followed  the  announcement 
of  the  treaty  with  Russia  an  urgency  ordinance  was  issued  restraining 
the  press  and  certain  newspapers  were  suspended  under  this  ordi- 
nance, but  it  is  probable  that  this  urgency  ordinance  will  be  vigor- 
ously discussed   at  the  coming  session  of  the  diet. 

The  emperor  is  assisted  in  the  discharge  of  hi.s  executive  duties  by 
a  prime  minister  and  nine  department  ministers:  besides  these  he  has 
the  advice  of  a  privy  council,  composed  of  elder  statesmen,  of  which 
Marquis  Ito  is.  now  the  president. 

Each  state  has  what  corresponds  to  our  legislature,  and  each  city 
has  a  council ;  both  of  these  bodies  are  elective  and  to  the  city  council 
is  entrusted  the  selection  of  the  mayor. 

They  have  a  judiciary,  federal  and  local,  appointed  for  life,  but 
no  jury  system.  Among  the  laws  is  one  forbidding  aliens  to  own 
property,  although  this  is  avoided  to  some  extent  by  long  time  leases. 
There  is  also  a  law  by  which  a  debt  descends  with  the  property  to 
the  oldest  son,  even  though  the  debt  may  exceed  the  property. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  N.  W.  Mclvor,  former  consul  gen- 
eral at  Yokohama,  now  engaged  in  the  practice  of  international  law, 
I  had  an  opportunity  to  meet  a  number  of  governors  and  congressmen 
and  found  them,  as  a  rule,  an  intelligent  and  accomplished  body  of 
men,  many  of  them  having  finished  their  education  abroad.  Their 
most  famous  minister  of  finance.  Count  Matsukata.  bore  some  re- 
semblance to   J.   Pierpont  Morgan. 

They  have  politics  in  Japan.  The  promise  of  a  constitution  seems 
to  have  been  given  by  the  emperor  before  there  was  any  general  agi- 
tation for  it,  but  as  about  twenty-one  years  elapsed  between  the 
making  of  the  promise  and  the  realization  of  the  hopes  excited  by  it, 
there  was  a  period  of  discussion.  As  early  as  1874  several  of  the 
ministers  joined  in  a  petition  asking  for  the  promulgation  of  the 
promised  constitution.  Their  memorial  being  disregarded  they  re- 
signed their  offices  and  became  the  founders  of  a  democratic  party. 
They  called  themselves  liberals  and  their  efforts  resulted  in  an  im- 
perial rescript  issued  in  1881,  fixing  1889  as  the  date  for  the  beginning 
of  constitutional  government.  Marquis  Ito  is  now  the  leader  of  the 
liberal  party,  which  had  one  hundred  anl  thirty  members  in  the 
house  of  representatives  in   1904. 


84 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


In  L882  Count  Okuma  organized  the  progressive  party,  which  had 
last  year  a  membership  of  ninety  in  the  house  of  representative.-. 
This  is  known  as  the  party  of  the  opposition,  Marquis  Ito's  party 
being  the  power  behind  the  throne.     There  is  not  as  much  difference 


PRESIDENT    OF    DIET JAPAN. 


between  the  platforms  of  these  parties  as  between  the  platforms  of 
the  two  leading  parties  of  our  country,  but  of  the  two  Count  Okuma's 
party  ia  the  more  radical.  The  count  himself  is  a  born  leader  and 
exerts   a   large   influence  upon    the   politics   of  his   country.      When 


EDUCATION  AND  RELIGION  85 

premier  some  years  ago  he  lost  a  leg  by  the  explosion  of  a  bomb, 
thrown  with  murderous  intent  by  a  political  opponent,  but  it  did  not 
diminish  his  zeal  in  the  prosecution  of  reforms.  The  fact  that  there 
were  in  the  last  diet  one  hundred  and  thirty  who  styled  themselves 


£ 

...    ■ 

1*3 

JJJrfmmmM 

Ws*' 

dm  '                         i  t  w  in  JW 

BARON  KENTARO  KANEKO. 

independents  shows  that  there  is  a  considerable  body  to  which  the 
opposition  party  can  appeal  when  the  minister  makes  an  unpopular 
move. 

Besides    the   party    organizations    there   are   a    number  of  societies 
formed  for  the  study  of  political  questions.     There  are  economic  asso- 


86  THE    OLD    AVORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

ciations  in  a  number  of  the  cities,  composed  of  the  leading  basin 
and  professional  men.  I  met  the  members  of  these  societies  at  Tokyo. 
Osaka  and  Nagoya  and  was  impressed  with  the  attention  that  they 
are  giving  to  economic  problems.  They  have  in  Tokyo  another  or- 
ganization called  the  Political  Economy  Association  which  deals  more 
directly  with  matters  of  government.  The  society  formed  by  the  men 
who  were  educated  in  America,  known  as  the  Friends  of  America 
(Baron  Kaneko  is  one  of  the  leading  members) ,  takes  a  deep  interest  in 
all  matters  relating  to  government  and  political  economy. 

The  leading  political  question  in  Japan  to-day.  in  so  far  as  it  affects 
domestic  affairs,  is  whether  the  cabinet  shall  be  selected  by  the  emperor, 
regardless  of  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  house,  or  be  made  to  con- 
form to  the  will  of  the  people  as  expressed  through  their  representatives. 
At  present  the  emperor'-  councilors  are  chosen  at  his  own  discretion 
and  the  states  of  Satsuma  and  Choshu  have  had  a  controlling  influence 
in  the  selection  of  the  emperor's  advisors.  The  democratic  sentiment 
of  the  country  is  at  this  time  crystallizing  in  favor  of  the  demand  that 
the  emperor  take  for  his  premier  the  leader  of  the  popular  party,  as  the 
king  of  England  does.  However  much  this  reform  may  be  delayed 
by  circumstances,  it  is  bound  to  come  if  Japan  is  to  recognize  the  rights 
of  the  people  to  govern  themselve-. 

In  the  cities,  sanitation  furnishes  a  mosl  difficult  problem.  At 
present  there  is  little  sewage,  although  there  is  a  pressing  need  for  it. 

In  the  industrial  development  of  Japan  the  people  must  meet  the 
problem  of  child  labor  and  also  consider  the  shortening  of  the  length 
of  the  working  day.  Women  now  work  twelve  hours  in  the  factorv 
and  one  cannot  see  them  and  the  children  at  toil  without  asking 
whether  Japan  can  afford  to  impair  the  strength  of  the  next  gen- 
eration  for  any  advantage  which  may  be  derived  from  such  long 
hours  and  such  youthful  labor.  This  subject  is  likely  to  be  brought 
before  the  next   session  of  the  diet. 

In  some  r<  forms  Japan  has  moved  more  rapidly  than  the  United 
-  ates.  Wherever  .-he  has  waterworks  in  her  cities,  they  are  owned 
and  operated  by  the  municipalities.  She  also  has  a  telegraph  system 
and  a  telephone  system  operated  by  the  national  government.  Tele- 
grams are  sent  at  the  same  rate  to  all  parts  of  the  empire  and  the 
service  is  satisfactory. 

The  telephone  ser   ■       -   n<>t   so  good.     While  it  is  all  right  as  far 
s,  the  system  is  not  extended  as  rapidly  as  the  demand  re- 
quires.    In  Tokyo,  for  instance,  those  who  want  to  install  telephones 
have  to  wail   until   someone"  discontinues  his  'phone  or  is  willing  to 


EDUCATION   AND  RELIGION 


87 


sell  it,  and  a  bonus  is  often  demanded.  If  the  local  telephones  were 
owned  by  the  city  and  only  the  Lnterurban  Lines  managed  by  the 
imperial  government  the  service  would  respond  more  quickly  to  the 
needs  of  the  community. 

The  Japanese  government  also  owns  and  operates  a  part  of  the 
railroad  system,  and  in  doing  so  employs  nothing  but  native  help. 
I  traveled  on  both  the  government  and  private  lines  and  could  not 
see  that  they  differed   materially  so  far  as  efficiency  was  concerned. 


MR.  OKURA.  A  SUCCESSFUL  JAPANESE  BUSINESS  MAN. 


The  first-class   fare  is  about   four  cents  per  mile   (in   our  money) 

the  second-class  about  two  cent.-  and  the  third-class  (nearly  all  the 
travel  is  third-class)  about  one  cent.  A  reduction  of  twenty  per  cent- 
is  made  on  return  tickets,  a  reduction  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  per 
cent  on  commutation  tickets,  and  a  reduction  of  from  forty-five  to 
eighty   per   cent    on  season    tickets   for  student-.      This   reduction   to 


88  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

students  might  be  imitated  to  advantage  in  our  country.  The  gov- 
ernment road  is  all.  or  nearly  all.  double  track  and  has  the  latent 
safeguards  for  the  protection  of  passengers  at  depots.  The  Japane- 
are  much  given  to  meeting  friends  when  they  arrive  and  escorting 
them  to  the  train  when  they  leave,  and  this  custom  has  led  to  the 
sale  of  platform  tickets  for  one  cent  (in  our  money). 

Japan  has  two  educational  problems:  First,  the  increase  in  the 
percentage  of  those  going  from  the  primary  to  the  middle  schooL- ; 
and,  second,  the  cultivation  of  an  ideal  which  will  connect  a  respect 
for  manual  labor  with  intellectual  advancement.  To-day  a  large  ma- 
jority of  her  people  work  with  their  hands  and  at  labor  which  forbids 
the  wearing  of  good  clothes.  It  is  probable  that  the  education  of  the 
masses  will  .-how  itself  to  some  extent  in  improved  methods  and  in 
the  more  extensive  use  of  animals  and  machinery,  but  there  must 
remain  a  large  amount  of  work  which  requires  daily  contact  with 
the  soil.  The  rice  crop  grows  in  the  mud  and  cannot  be  harvested 
by  machinery;  the  fields,  too,  are  so  small  that  they  cannot  well  be 
cultivated  with  the  aid  of  animals.  The  farmers'  boys  and  girls  arc 
now  going  to  school  and  gradually  adopting  the  European  dress. 
Will  they  be  content  to  return  to  the  paddy  fields  when  they  have 
finished  their  education?  Some  of  the  young  men  pull  'rikishas  in 
the  daytime  in  order  to  earn  money  to  attend  school  at  night.  Will 
their  learning  make  them  unwilling  to  do  hard  work?  Or  will  they 
substitute  the  cab  for  the   'rikisha? 

Japan  faces  the  educational  problem  that  confronts  the  civilized 
world,  viz.,  how  to  put  behind  a  trained  mind  an  ideal  which  will 
make  the  educated  citizen  anxious  to  do  service  rather  than  to  be 
waited  upon.  Tolstoy's  solution  of  the  problem  is  "bread  labor," 
thai  is,  physical  toil  sufficient  to  produce  what  one  eats.  This  he 
believes  will  teach  respect  for  labor  and  by  dignifying  it  unite  all 
parts  of  society  in  sympathetic  co-operation.  Has  any  better  solution 
been  proposed? 

With  a  broader  educational  foundation  Japan  will  find  it  necessary 
to  extend  the  suffrage.  At  present  the  right  to  vote  is  determined  by 
a  strict  property  qualification,  but  there  is  already  an  urgent  demand 
for  the  reduction  of  the  tax  qualification,  and  it  will  not  be  long  be- 
fore a  large  addition  will  be  made  to  the  voting  population. 

The  most  serious  national  problem  with  which  Japan  has  to  deal 
is  that  imposed  upon  her  by  the  attempt  to  extend  the  sphere  of  her 
political  influence  to  Formosa  on  the  southwest  and  Korea  on  the 
northwest.     The   people  of   Formosa   do   not  welcome  Japanese  sov- 


EDUCATION  AKD  RELIGION 


89 


ereignty  and  an  army  of  some  six  or  .-even  thousand  is  kept  on  that 
island  to  support  Japanese  authority. 

But  Korea  presents  a  still  more  delicate  and  perplexing  situation. 
For  more  than  a  thousand  yen.-  a  feud  has  existed  between  Japan 
and  Korea  and  two  attempts  have  been  made  by  the  former  to  invade 
the  latter,  the  last  about  three  hundred  years  ago.  At  that  time  a 
number  of  captives  were  carried  back  to  Kagoshima  where  they,  as 
before  mentioned,  introduced  the  art  of  making  what  has  since  been 
known  as  Satsuma  ware.  The  fact  that  the  descendants  of  these 
captives  lived  in  a  colony  by  themselves  for  three  centuries  without 
intermarrying  with  the  Japanese  i<  sufficient  evidence  of  the  feeling 
entertained  toward  them  by  their  captors. 

To  aggravate  the  matter  Japan  has  been  engaged  in  two  wars,  first 
with  China  and  then  with  Russia,  over  Korea,  and  it  was  also  tli3 
cause  of  one  civil  war  in  Japan.  Having  driven  China  from  Korea 
ten  years  ago  and  now  having  driven  Russia  out,  she  is  undertaking 
to  exercise  a  protectorate  over  the  country.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  Korea  is  separated  from  both  Manchuria  and  Siberia  by  an  im- 
aginary line  and  that  the  Koreans  themselves  regard  the  Japanese  as 
intruders,  some  estimate  can  be  formed  of  Japan's  task.  In  a  future 
article  on  Korea  I  shall  speak  on  this  subject  more  at  length,  but  the 
matter  is  referred  to  here  because  the  experiment  is  as  dangerous  to 
Japan  as  it  is  to  Korea. 

AVill  Japan  be  able  to  accomplish  what  other  nations  have  failed 
to  do,  viz.,  exercise  a  colonial  power  without  abusing  it  and  without 
impoverishing  herself? 


A  SHINTO  GATE  AT    NARA. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

KOREA— "THE   HERMIT   NATION." 

Poor  little  Korea!  One  hardly  knows  whether  to  be  amused  or 
grieved,  so  strangely  have  comedy  and  tragedy  been  blended  in  her 
history. 

Mr.  Griffiths  in  his  very  comprehensive  book  bearing  that  title,  calls 
Korea  the  ''Hermit  Nation,"  and  the  appellation  was  a  fitting  one  until 
within  a  generation.  Since  that  time  she  might  be  described  as  a 
bone  of  contention,  for  she  has  been  the  cause  of  several  bloody  quarrels. 

The  position  of  Korea  on  the  map  of  Asia  very  much  resembles 
Florida's  position  on  the  map  of  North  America,  and  Japan's  relative 
position  is  something  like  that  which  Cuba  bears  to  Florida.  Separated 
on  the  south  from  Japan  by  about  a  hundred  miles  of  water  and  joining 
both  China  and  Russia  on  the  north,  it  is  not  strange  that  all  three  of 
these  nations  have  looked  upon  her  with  covetous  eyes  and  begrudged 
each  other  any  advantage  obtained.  The  surface  of  Korea  is  quite 
mountainous,  the  ranges  and  valleys  extending  for  the  most  part  from 
the  northeast  to  the  southwest.  Until  recently  the  country  w7as  inacces- 
sible and  few  of  the  white  race  have  penetrated  the  interior.  A  few  years 
ago  a  railroad  was  built  from  Seoul  thirty-five  miles  west  to  Chemulpo, 
the  nearest  seaport.  Since  then  the  Japanese  have  built  a  road  from 
Seoul  north  to  Pen  Yang,  and  southeast  to  Fusan.  The  last  line,  which 
has  been  finished  less  than  a  year,  is  two  hundred  and  seven  tv-five  miles 
long  and  connects  the  Korean  capital  with  the  nearest  seaport  to  Japan. 
This  railroad  is  of  such  great  military  importance  to  Japan  that  she 
aided  the  building  to  the  extent  of  guaranteeing  six  per  cent  interest  on 
the  investment  for  fifteen  year.-,  with  the  provision  thai  the  cost  of  the 
road  should  not  exceed  twenty-five  million  yen.  The  Korean  govern- 
ment gave  the  right  of  way  for  the  road  and  the  free  admission  of  ma- 
terial imported  for  its  construction  and  equipment.  The  engines  and 
cars  are  of  American  style  and  make,  and  the  road  is  standard  eauee. 
It  is  now  so  easy  to  pass  through  Korea  in  going  from  Japan  to   Pekin 

90 


KOREA— "THE  HERMIT  NATION.' 


91 


that  the  tourist  should  not  miss  its  strange  and  interesting  sights,  but 
the  trip  should  be  made  before  November.  We  took  the  train  at  Fusan 
and  made  the  ride  nearly  all  the  way  in  daylight,  thus  having  an  oppor- 
tunity to  see  both  the  country  and  the  people.  The  road  crosses  three 
rivers  and  the  water  sheds  which  separate  them,  making  the  construc- 
tion of  the  road  extremely  difficult.  The  mountains  are  bare,  and  we 
were  informed  that  they  had  been  denuded  by  the  natives  and  the  wood 
used  for  fuel.  The  Koreans  sometimes  blame  the  Japanese  for  the  ap- 
pearance  of  the  country  and  attributed  it  to  the  invasion  three  hundred 

years  ago;  an  intel- 
ligent son  of  Japan 
replied  that  as  his 
country  recovered 
from  earthquake 
shocks  within  a  few 
years,  the  Koreans 
should  have  been 
able  to  remove  the 
traces  of  an  invasion 
in  less  than  three 
centuries. 

The  valleys  are 
fertile  but  in  tillage 
and  in  evidences  of 
industry  they  do  not 

■  ^  approach  the  valleys 

~'jt  BH3    of       Japan.         One 

misses  the  orchards, 
the  trees,  the  vines 
and  the  flowers 
which  are  ever  pres- 
ent in  "The  Land  of 
the  Rising  Sun." 
Rice  is  the  princi- 
pal crop  in  the  south, 
while  barley  and  wheat  are  more  cultivated  in  the  north.  Beans  and 
peas  are  also  raised  in  large  quantities  and  lasl  year  constituted  the 
chief  article  of  export.  Rice,  while  often  the  largest  export,  fell  below 
beans  and  peas  that  year  and  was  closely  followed  by  hide-  and  gin- 
seng. There  are  some  gold  mine-,  the  export  of  this  ore  amounting 
to  nearly  fifty  thousand  dollars  last  year,  l.nt  the  country  has  been 
so  isolated  that  its  mineral  wealth  has  not  been  exhaustively  explored. 


TWO    KOREAN    FAMILIES 


92 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


The  population  of  Korea  is  variously  estimated  at  from  eight  to 
fifteen  millions.  The  men  are  larger  than  the  Japanese  and  somewhat 
lighter  in  color  but  not  so  alert.  Like  the  Japanese  they  have  rather  a 
scanty  beard,  but  it  seems  to  be  more  fashionable  for  the  older  men  to 
allow  their  chin  whiskers  to  grow.  In  dress  the  Korean  man  is  unique. 
He  wears  a  long  white  coat  of  thin  cotton  reaching  to  the  knees,  with 
trousers  generallv  of  white,  verv  full  in  the  seat  and  tied  around  the 
ankles.  The  vest  is  of  red,  blue  or  green  if  he  is  not  in  mourning,  but 
mourning  seems  to  be  a  permanent  occupation  in  Korea.    It  was  ex- 


1N    KOREA GROUP    OF   NATIVES. 


plained  to  us  that  white  is  the  color  used  for  mourning  and  that  the 
mourning  period  lasts  three  years.  When  one  of  the  royal  family  die-, 
all  of  the  people  wear  mourning  for  the  full  period,  and  as  they  have 
sometimes  had  three  royal  funerals  within  a  decade,  white  came  into 
general  use  as  a  matter  of  economy. 

The  hat  ordinarily  worn  is  made  of  horse  hair  and  has  a  high  crown, 
and  being  only  about  a  third  as  large  as  our  hats,  it  sits  upon  the  top  of 
the  head  without  covering  it.  Tt  has  a  narrow  brim  of  the  same  material 


KOREA       Till'.   HERMIT   NATION."  93 

and  i.s  tied  on  with  strings  under  the  chin.  These  hats  are  generally 
black,  although  different  colors  may  be  seen  upon  the  streel ;  sometimes 
an  enormous  straw  hat  is  used  for  mourning. 

The  unmarried  men  wear  the  hair  in  one  long  braid  like  a  Chinese 
pigtail,  but  when  one  marries  he  combs  his  hair  to  the  top  of  his  head 
and  ties  it  in  a  stiff  top  knot  which  is  visible  through  the  gauze  hat. 
The  Foot  is  encased  in  a  sock,  padded  with  cotton,  and  w  canoe  -halted 
shoe  of  grass,  cloth,  leather  or  wood. 

The  women,  except  those  of  the  coolie  class,  are  seldom  -ecu  on  the 
street  in  the  daytime,  and  the  men  are  not  allowed  on  the  street  at  uight, 
or  were  not  until  western  ways  began  to  invade  the  island.  Even  when 
going  out  the  women  wear  over  their  heads  a  green  cape  with  scarlel 
sleeves  and  draw  it  across  the  face  in  such  a  way  that  little  more  than 
the  eyes  can  be  seen.  The  streets  of  Seoul  and  of  the  towns  through 
which  we  passed  were  full  of  men,  many  of  them  walking  about  in  a 
leisurely  way  or  "standing  in  groups  smoking  long  pipes.  Mingled  with 
them  were  eoolies  carrying  immense  packs  on  their  backs  or  leading 
ponies,  oxen  or  cows  laden  with  hay,  wood  or  fagots.  We  saw  more  idle 
men  in  two  days  in  Korea  than  we  saw  in  .Japan  in  a  month.  While 
the  eoolies  seem  to  be  quite  industrious  and  carry  astonishing  weights, 
there  seems  to  be  a  deep-rooted  contempt  for  labor — even  among  the 
middle  classes,  and  a  contractor  told  us  that  in  the  employing  of  the 
eoolies  it  was  necessary  to  pay  them  every  day  because  a  wreek's  compen- 
sation would  have  to  lie  spent  before  they  would  return  to  work.  An 
incident  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  feeling  in  regard  to  labor  of  any 
kind.  In  making  a  purchase  we  wanted  two  things  tied  together  with 
a  string.  We  called  the  guide's  attention  to  it;  he  handed  the  things  to 
his  attendant  and  the  attendant  handed  them  to  the  shopkeeper,  who 
did  the  tying.  We  were  also  informed  that  the  Koreans  lack  the  power 
of  organized  co-operation.  Each  one  works  by  himself  and  carries  his 
burden  on  forked  sticks  strapped  to  his  back.  In  walking  he  uses  what 
seems  like  a  staff,  but  its  real  purpose  is  that  of  a  prop  for  his  load  when 
he  stops  to  rest. 

The  shopkeepers  of  Korea  have  the  oriental  taste  for  bargaining  to  a 
marked  degree  and  always  ask  a  great  deal  more  than  they  expect  to 
receive,  finding,  apparently,  intellectual  recreation  in  haggling  over  the 
price.  In  making  a  few7  small  purchases  we  were  very  much  amused  at 
the  spirited  discussions  which  took  place  between  our  guide  and  the 
merchants.  Followed  by  a  crowd  of  interested  spectators,  cumbering 
from  twenty  to  fifty,  we  moved  from  shop  to  shop.    The  vendor  would 


94  THE   OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

announce  a  price  as  if  his  was  a  one-price  store.  •  The  guide  would 
receive  the  announcement  with  absolute  contempt  and  the  wordy  war 
would  begin.  The  bystanders  took  sides  and  joined  in  the  fray;  the 
clerks  and  members  of  (he  storekeeper's  family  flocked  to  his  aid. 
while  the  crowd  elbowed  each  other  to  get  nearer  the  scene  of  action. 
Usually  the  guide  would  start  toward  another  store  before  an  agree- 
ment  could  Ik-  reached.,  sometimes  less  than  half  of  the  original  price 
was  settled  upon,  and  in  the  calm  which  followed  the  storm,  every- 
one seemed  satisfied.  We  heard  of  instances  where  one-eighth  of  the 
price  asked  was  finally  accepted,  hut  either  the  merchants  with  whom 
we  dealt  were  more  reasonable  or  our  guide  yielded  too  soon. 

The  Korean  houses  are  entirely  different  from  those  of  Japan;  they 
are  not  so  high  nor  so  large  but  are  more  warmly  built.  They  are 
usually  constructed  of  stone  set  in  mud  and  have  poorly  thatched  roofs 
of  straw;  occasionally  tile  is  used.  Often  the  earth  supplies  a  floor 
except  for  the  little  sleeping  rooms,  which  have  floors  of  stone  covered 
with  oiled  paper.  These  rooms  are  heated  by  flues  under  the  floors 
which  conduct  the  flame  and  smoke  to  a  chimney  which  opens  on  the 
side  of  the  house.  Leaves,  fagots,  coarse  grass  and  all  sorts  of  trash  are 
used  for  fuel  and  these  -tone  floors,  heated  twice  a  day,  keep  the  small 
rooms  quite  comfortable. 

The  people  sit  on  the  floor  as  in  Japan,  except  that  they  sit  cross- 
Legged  instead  of  sitting  on  the  feet,  and  sleep  on  mats  spread  on  the 
floor  at  night  and  stowed  away  during  the  day. 

While  in  Seoul  we  were,  through  the  courtesy  of  Rev.  S.  F.  Moore, 
one  of  the  missionaries,  invited  to  the  wedding  of  two  Korean  Christians 
and  after  the  ceremony  had  a  chance  to  inspect  the  house  of  the  groom's 
father.  It  was  quite  neat  and  clean,  hut  the  houses  generally  as  seen 
from  the  narrow  streets  are  dirty  and  uninviting.  One  wonders  wThere 
the  men  keep  the  long  white  coats  of  which  Uiey  seem  so  proud,  until 
he  is  informed  that  the  wives  wash  and  iron  them  at  night  while  the 
lord  of  the  household  sleeps. 

Speaking  of  the  marriage,  I  must  as  a  truthful  chronicler  record 
that  the  young  man  whom  we  saw  married  (they  marry  young  in  Korea 
and  the  marriages  are  arranged  by  the  parents;  had  a  pleasant  face  and 
thai  the  bride  was  modesf  and  comely.  He  wore  a  dark  red,  loose- 
fitting  coat,  a  wide  belt  and  a  black  gauze  hat  of  indescribable  shape. 
The  girl  wore  a  green  -ilk  waist  which,  just  below  the  armpits,  joined  a 


96  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

very  full  skirt  of  red.  Her  head  was  ornamented  with  two  very  large 
rolls  of  hair  which,  according  to  custom,  were  borrowed  for  the  occasion. 
We  were  informed  that  the  wedding  clothes  are  often  rented  and  that 
even  the  goose,  which  in  the  native  ceremony  the  wife  presents  to  the 
husband  as  a  symbol  of  constancy,  is  obtained  in  the  same  way.  As  in 
this  case  the  Christian  ceremony  was  used,  the  couple  did  not  pledge 
themselves  according  to  the  native  practice  by  saying  "Black  is  the 
hair  that  now  crowns  our  heads,  yet  when  it  has  become  as  white  as  the 
fibers  of  the  onion  root,  we  shall  still  be  found  faithful  to  each  other," 
but  as  among  the  non-Christian  Koreans  the  man  is  allowed  to  take 
a  concubine  into  his  home  whenever  he  is  able  to  support  one,  the 
pledge  would  seem  to  be  a  mere  formality  on  his  part. 

Seoul,  the  capital  and  largest  city,  is  surrounded  by  a  substantial  wall 
and  entered  by  gates  which  until  recently  wTere  shut  at  night  even 
though  the  city  long  ago  outgrew  the  walls.  These  gates  remind  one  of 
the  gates  described  in  the  Bible,  and  they  are  not  lacking  in  the  beggar 
who  finds  the  gate  a  convenient  place  to  make  his  plea  to  the  passerby. 
Aside  from  two  or  three  broad  thoroughfares,  the  streets  are  narrow, 
crooked  and  filthy.  The  open  sewers  on  each  side  are  filled  with  refuse 
matter  and  reek  with  foul  odors. 

There  is  no  general  educational  system  in  Korea,  and  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy  is  naturally  large.  The  missionary  schools  are  doing  an 
excellent  work  and  a  few  of  the  young  men  have  been  sent  to  China, 
Japan  and  America.  During  recent  years  there  has  been  quite  an 
awakening  among  the  young  men,  and  they  are  showing  an  increased 
desire  to  learn  about  western  civilization.  So  great  is  this  interest  that 
a  newly  organized  branch  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  at 
Seoul  has  a  membership  of  over  five  hundred,  four-fifths  of  whom  are 
not  professing  Christians  but  are  drawn  to  the  institution  because  it 
gives  them  a  chance  to  study  western  problems  and  methods.  Mr. 
W'.inamaker,  the  merchant  prince  of  Philadelphia,  has  just  offered  to 
supply  the  money  necessary  for  a  permanent  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  in 
Seoul,  and  having  addressed  a  meeting  in  the  present  crowded  quarters, 
I  can  testify  that  a  new  hall  is  badly  needed. 

The  Chinese  characters  are  used  in  writing,  but  the  Koreans  have  a 
-]»oken  language  which  is  quite  different.  There  is  no  extensive  litera- 
ture that  can  be  called  Korean,  although  Dr.  Allen,  for  many  years 
American    minister   at   Seoul,    has   published,    in    a   volume    entitled 


KOREA— "THE    HERMIT    NATTON"  97 


"Korea:  Facts  and  Fancies,"  a,  number  of  delightful  folklore  stories, 

which  show  an  appreciation  of  the  love  story  and  a  very  clear  recogni- 
tion of  the  personal  virtues  as  illustrated  in  daily  life.  Dr.  Allen's 
book  also  contains  an  interesting  chronology  of  the  principal  events, 
but  it  is  significant  of  the  change  wrought  by  foreign  influence  that 
it  only  requires  twelve  pages  to  record  the  things  worth  mentioning 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  down  to  1876,  while  eighty 
pages  are  devoted  to  the  things  that  have  transpired  since. 

In  examining  the  pages  devoted  to  the  last  century  one  is  struck  with 
the  disinclination  of  the  Korean  government  to  accept  the  offers  of 
intercourse  made  by  the  various  nations  of  Europe  since  1875,  and  wifh 
the  number  of  missionaries  who  suffered  for  religion's  sake  prior  to  that 
dale.  Persecution,  howrever,  seems  to  have  increased  rather  than  dimin- 
ished the  zeal  of  the  various  denominations,  and  to-day  Korea  is  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  promising  of  the  missionary  fields.  While 
Confucianism  has  influenced  Korea,  Buddhism  never  gained  such  a 
foothold  in  this  "country  as  in  China  and  Japan.  There  are  no  gorgeous 
temples  here,  and  for  five  hundred  years  (and  until  recently)  Buddhist 
priests  were  not  allowed  within  the  walls  of  Seoul.  There  are  mission- 
ary stations  throughout  the  country,  and  at  Peng  Yang  there  is  a  native 
congregation  of  fifteen  hundred.  At  Seoul  a  modern  hospital,  built 
with  money  given  by  Mr.  Severance,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  been 
opened  by  Dr.  Avison,  where,  besides  care  for  the  sick,  medical  training 
is  furnished  to  natives  who  desire  to  fit  themselves  for  this  profession. 
I  was  assured  by  Dr.  Avison  and  by  missionaries  that  young  Korean-, 
both  men  and  women,  learn  quickly  and  are  faithful  assistants.  The 
medical  missionary,  being  in  an  excellent  position  to  show  his  Christian 
spirit  by  helpful  service,  is  doing  much  to  aid  in  the  propagation  of 
our  religion  in  the  Orient.  In  this  connection  I  might  add  that  Dr. 
Allen  went  to  Korea  as  a  medical  missionary  and  became  the  emperor's 
physician.  This  intimate  relation  gave  our  country  a  good  standing 
when  the  doctor  afterward  became  the  American  minister.  These 
friendly  relations  are  still  maintained  through  present  Minister  Morgan. 

The  government  of  Korea  is  an  absolute  monarchy  and  has  a  reign- 
ing family  which  has  held  the  throne  for  about  five  hundred  years.  All 
authority  emanates  from  the  emperor  and  is  exercised  through  milli- 
ters, governors  and  subordinate  officials,  appointed  by  him.  If  one  can 
trust  the  stories  afloat,  the  government  is  as  corrupt  an  organization  as 


08  THE  OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

can  be  found  on  earth.  Just  who  is  responsible  is  not  clearly  known. 
but  that  offices  are  sold  and  all  sorts  of  extortion  practiced  there-  can 
scarcely  be  doubt.  There  is  no  spirit  of  patriotism  such  as  is  to  be 
found  in  Japan,  and  why  should  there  be  when  the  government  gives 
so  little  in  return  for  the  burdens  which  it  imposes? 

Changes  in  the  cabinet  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  there  having 
been  something  like  sixty  within  a  year. 

For  a  long  time  Chinese  influence  was  paramount  in  Korea  and  the 
Chinese  government  had  a  resident  minister  in  Seoul  who  was  the  con- 
fidential advisor  of  the  royal  family.  But  Chinese  influence  ended  with 
Japan's  victory  in  1S94;  soon  afterward  Queen  Min,  the  wife  of  the 
present  emperor,  was  put  to  death  and,  the  murder  being  charged  to 
the  Japanese,  the  emperor  took  refuge  at  the  Russian  legation.  Now 
that  Japan  has  driven  Russia  out,  she  is  virtually  in  control  of  the 
country,  although  the  nominal  sovereignty  of  the  emperor  has  not 
been  interfered  with.  Just  what  form  the  Japanese  protectorate  will 
take  has  not  yet  been  decided,  or  at  least  lias  not  yet  been  announced. 
Marquis  Ito  is  in  Seoul  now  as  the  representative  of  his  government 
conferring  with  the  emperor  and  his  ministry. 

In  the  end  the  protectorate  will  be  whatever  Japan  desires  to  have  it, 
for  neither  Korea  nor  Russia  nor  China  is  in  a  position  to  question  her 
decision.  Besides  building  railroads  through  Korea,  the  Japanese  have 
established  banks  and  issued  a  currency  for  Korea  in  place  of  the  cop- 
per ca.sh  generally  used.  The  government,  recognizing  the  incon- 
venience of  a  currency  which  had  to  be  kept  in  huge  boxes  and  paid 
out  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  or  more  to  the  dollar,  had  farmed  out  the 
right  to  coin  nickels  and  these  were  soon  counterfeited.  The  counter- 
feit nickels  have  been  classified  as,  first,  better  than  the  original^:  sec- 
ond, good  imitations;  third,  poor  imitations;  and  fourth,  those  that 
can  only  be  passed  on  a  dark  night. 

Japanese  soldiers  are  to  be  seen  everywhere  and  Japanese  settlement- 
are  to  be  found  in  all  the  larger  cities.  The  Koreans.  ti-  a  rule,  regard 
the  new  Japanese  invasion  with  silent  distrust  and  are  in  doubt  whether 
the  purpose  of  Japan  is  simply  to  protect  herself  from  future  danger  at 
the  hands  of  China  and  Russia,  or  whether  she  is  expecting  to  colonize 
Korea  with  her  own  people.  If  Japan  purifies  the  government  and 
makes  it  honest:  if  she  establishes  schools  and  raises  the  intellectual 
standard  of  the  people:  if  she  revives  the  industries  now  fallen  into 


X 


O 

- 


100 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    TTS    WAYS 


decay  and  introduces  new  ones;  if,  in  other  words,  she  exercises  her 
power  for  the  upbuilding  of  Korea  and  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Korean  people,  she  may  in  time  overcome  the  prejudice  which  centuries 
of  hostility  have  created.  But  what  nation  has  ever  exercised  power  in 
this  way?  And  how  can  Japan  do  it  without  developing  an  educated 
class  which  will  finally  challenge  her  authority?  If  she  keeps  the 
Koreans  in  ignorance  and  poverty,  they  will  be  sullen  subjects;  if  she 
leads  them  to  higher  levels  they  wTill  the  more  quickly  demand  their 
independence  and  be  the  better  prepared  to  secure  it.  Which  course  will 
she  pursue?* 


*  Since  the  writing  of  this  article  Korea  has  been  forced  to  accept  Japanese 
sovereignty  in  international  matters,  the  local  government  being  in  most  matters 
undisturbed. 


DOING    THE  FAMILY    WASHING 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CHINA— AS  SHE  WAS 

The  contrast  between  the  China  of  antiquity — hoary  with  age — and 
the  new  China — just  awakening  into  life — is  so  great  as  to  suggest  the 
treatment  of  the  two  periods  in  different  articles.  And  if  the  contrast 
between  China  of  yesterday  and  the  China  of  to-day  is  great,  what  shall 
we  say  of  the  contrast  between  the  Flowery  Kingdom  and  our  own 
country?  The  same  stars  shine  overhead  and  the  same  laws  of  nature 
operate  on  the  earth,  but  in  mode  of  living,  appearance,  customs  and 
habits  of  thought,  the  Chinese  people  could  scarcely  be  more  different 
from  ours.    ■ 

First,  a  word  as  to  the  land  which  they  occupy ;  its  very  vastness  im- 
presses one,  unless  he  has  recently  consulted  his  geography.  While  the 
eighteen  provinces  which  constitute  China  proper  have  something  less 
than  two  million  square  miles,  yet  the  Chinese  empire  with  its  tributary 
states  has  an  area  of  about  five  million  three  hundred  thousand  square 
miles,  and  extends  over  thirty  degrees  north  and  south  and  seventy  de- 
grees east  and  west.  We  hardly  realize  when  we  speak  of  China  that  her 
emperor  holds  sway  over  a  territory  nearly  twice  as  large  as  the  United 
States;  that  his  decrees  are  law  to  a  population  estimated  at  from  two 
hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred  millions;  that  her  climate  is  like 
that  of  Russia  in  the  north,  while  in  the  southern  provinces  her  people 
live  under  a  tropical  sun  ;  and  that  she  has  so  many  mountains  and  such 
mighty  deserts  that  more  than  half  of  her  population  is  crowded 
together  upon  a  plain  which  contains  but  a  little  more  than  two  hun- 
dred thousand  square  miles.  Williams,  in  his  work  entitled  "The 
Middle  Kingdom,"  calls  this  district  "the  most  densely  settled  of  any 
part  of  the  world  of  the  same  size,"  and  estimates  that  upon  this  plain — 
less  than  three  times  the  size  of  Nebraska — one  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  millions  of  human  beings  dwell. 

The  harbors  of  China  are  hardly  what  one  might  expect  on  so  ex- 
tended a  line  of  sea  coast.  While  the  harbor  at  Hong  Kong  is  an  admir- 
able one — one  of  the  best  in  the  world — the  one  at  Shanghai  has  no 

101 


102  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

hills  to  protect  it,  the  one  at  Chefoo  is  open  to  the  storms  and  the  one 
at  Taku  does  not  deserve  to  be  called  a  harbor  at  all.  In  leaving  Shang- 
hai we  went  an  hour  and  a  half  by  launch  in  order  to  reach  a  steamer 
of  only  six  thousand  tons ;  at  Chefoo  a  still  smaller  ship  was  delayed  a 
day  because  the  lighters  could  not  unload  it  in  the  wind,  and  at  Taku, 
the  seaport  of  Tientsin  and  Pekin,  we  spent  a  day  on  the  bar  waiting  for 
ten  feet  of  water. 

The  capita]  of  the  empire  has  until  recently  been  so  difficult  of  access 
that  comparatively  few  tourists  have  visited  it.  The  large  ocean  steamers 
stop  at  Shanghai  and  Hong  Kong  only,  making  it  necessary  for  one 
desiring  to  visit  Pekin  to  take  a  smaller  boat  and  risk  indefinite  delays 
on  account  of  wind  and  tide. 

Since  the  completion  of  the  railroad  from  Hankow  to  Pekin  it  is 
possible  to  accomplish  the  journey  from  Shanghai  to  Pekin  in  less  time, 
and,  in  addition,  enjoy  the  advantage  of  a  trip  inland.  "When  the  pro- 
jected road  is  completed  from  Hankow  to  Canton,  the  tourist  can  land 
at  Shanghai,  take  a  river  boat  six  hundred  miles  up  the  Yangste  Kiang 
to  Hankow,  then  go  by  rail  to  Pekin,  about  eight  hundred  miles  north, 
then  back  through  Hankow  to  Canton  nearly  as  far  south,  from  which 
point  there  are  daily  boats  to  Hong  Kong.  This  trip,  covering  nearly 
a  thousand  miles  of  river  travel  and  about  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  rail- 
road travel  (not  including  the  return  trip  from  Pekin  to  Hankow) 
can  be  made  in  the  time  formerly  spent  in  travel  along  the  coast  and 
furnishes  an  infinitely  better  opportunity  for  the  study  of  the  country 
and  the  people.  As  a  matter  of  precaution  I  ought  to  add  that  Pekin 
is  so  far  north  that  before  the  opening  of  the  railroad  it  was  extremely 
difficult  to  visit  it  after  the  first  of  December,  and  even  now  it  is  desir- 
able that  the  trip  should  be  made  before  the  middle  of  November. 

China  is  well  watered ;  the  largest  river,  the  Yantse  Kiang,  which 
empties  into  the  ocean  at  Shanghai,  is  three  thousand  miles  long,  drain- 
more  than  half  a  million  square  miles.  Seven  hundred  miles  above 
its  mouth  carries  a  volume  of  water  estimated  at  five  hundred  thou- 
sand cubic  feel  per  second.  It  is  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  t lie  earth 
and  is  navigable  for  large  vessels  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles. 

The  Yellow  river,  or,  in  Chinese,  the  Hwang  Ho,  drains  a  ba,sin 
almost  as  large  and  is  nearly  as  long,  but  does  not  carry  so  large  a 
volume  of  water.  This  is  the  river  whose  overflows  have  been  so  dis- 
astrous as  to  earn  for  it  the  name  of  "The  Great  Sorrow."  This  river 
carries  down  so  much  deposil  that  within  recenl  times  it  has  choked 
it-  original  outlet  and  formed  a  new  channel,  entering  the  ocean  some 


104  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

three  hundred  miles  farther  north.  At  that  time  thousands  of  vil- 
lages were  swept  away  and  the  loss  of  life  was  estimated  at  several 
millions.  The  current  of  the  Yellow  river  is  so  shifting,  the  sandbars 
so  numerous  and  the  volume  of  water  so  changeable  that  the  river  is 
practically  useless  for  navigation. 

Besides  these,  there  are  a  number  of  rivers  of  less  importance  and 
tributaries  of  these  two  large  rivers,  which  only  seem  small  by  compari- 
son. 

As  if  inspired  by  the  numerous  and  extensive  natural  waterways, 
the  Chinese  people  centuries  ago  connected  the  great  water  systems  by 
an  immense  canal,  which  with  the  streams  utilized  by  it,  gave  water 
communication  between  Pekin  and  Canton.  This  canal,  sometimes 
known  as  the  Transit  river,  is  nearly  twice  as  long  as  the  Erie  canal 
and  is  not  only  the  greatest  work  of  its  kind  in  Asia,  but  at  the  time 
of  its  construction  was  the  greatest  in  the  world. 

Before  speaking  of  the  people,  a  word  should  be  said  in  regard  to 
the  great  wall.  It  extends  from  the  ocean  westward  along  the  north- 
ern boundary  of  China  proper  for  a  distance  of  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles,  climbing  in  its  tortuous  course  hills  and  mountains,  one 
more  than  five  thousand  feet  high.  It  is  about  twenty-five  feet  thick 
at  the  base  and  fifteen  at  the  top  and  varies  from  fifteen  to  thirty 
feet  in  height.  It  is  made  of  earth  with  a  shell  of  stone  or  large  brick 
to  hold  the  earth  in  place.  The  watch  towers,  built  at  intervals  along 
the  line,  add  to  its  imposing  appearance  and  make  it  an  object  of 
historic  interest,  although  a  large  part  of  the  wall  has  fallen  into  decay 
and  in  some  places  only  a  ridge  of  dirt  remains.  This  wall  was  con- 
structed about  two  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era  as  a  pro- 
tection against  the  hostile  tribes  of  the  north,  and  for  many  centuries 
it  answered  its  purpose,  although  to-day  it  only  suggests  a  tremendous 
waste  of  labor. 

But  the  great  wall,  imposing  as  it  is  because  of  its  length,  is  inferior 
in  height,  thickness  and  construction  to  some  of  the  city  walls.  The 
wall  of  the  city  of  Pekin,  for  instance,  is  about  sixty  feet  high  and 
forty  feet  wide  at  its  base,  and  is  kept  in  excellent  repair.  The  wall 
encloses  what  is  known  as  the  Tartar  city  and  is  nearly  four  miles 
square.  Huge  watch  towers  rise  above  each  gate,  and  to  give  still 
greater  security,  the  gates  open  into  an  enclosed  square.  While  the 
walls  of  the  city  of  Pekin  are  the  most  substantial  in  the  empire,  the 
wall-;  of  Nanking,  the  former  capital,  enclose  nearly  four  times  as 
in i all  ground.  There  was  a  double  object  in  making  the  walls  of 
the  city  so  extensive.     First,  to  provide  for  future  growth ;  and.  sec- 


106  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

ond,  to  enable  the  people  to  withstand  a  longer  .siege.  How  well  the 
second  purpose  was  served  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  during  the  Tai- 
ping  rebellion  the  city  of  Nanking  was  besieged  for  thirteen  years. 
Just  outside  the  walls  of  the  city  may  still  be  seen  the  earthworks 
thrown  up  by  the  imperial  army,  which  sometimes  numbered  thirty- 
five   thousand. 

But  it  must  not  be  understood  that  the  capital  cities  were  the  only 
ones  protected  by  walls.  On  the  contrary,  all  the  cities  are  walled; 
one  sees  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  walled  cities  on  the  railroad  from 
Pekin  to  Hankow  and  a  number  of  others  on  the  ride  down  the  river 
to  Shanghai. 

The  agricultural  population,  instead  of  occupying  individual  farm-, 
as  in  America,  is  gathered  into  little  villages,  each  home  being  en- 
closed in  its  own  wall.  During  the  summer  the  people  swarm  out 
from  the  cities  and  villages  and  cultivate  their  little  tracts  of  land 
with  the  most  primitive  tools,  carrying  the  farm  products  back  to 
their  homes  on  wheelbarrows  or  in  baskets  balanced  on  poles.  In 
the  north  of  China  the  camel  is  used  for  long  distance  travel,  and  in 
(he  south  we  saw  the  water  buffalo  drawing  the  plow,  but  in  China 
less  than  anywhere  else  we  have  been,  has  man  supplemented  his 
strength  by  the  strength  of  domestic  animals. 

In  the  cities  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that  travel  by  ordinary  ve- 
hicles is  impossible.  In  Pekin  there  are  a  few  wide  streets  leading 
from  the  gates  through  the  city,  and  on  these  a  peculiar  heavy- 
wheeled,  springless  cart  is  used,  but  most  of  the  streets  are  more  like 
alleys  in  which  two  'rikishas  can  hardly  pass.  We  did  not  see  a  full 
sized  horse  in  the  capital  city.  Some  ponies  have  been  brought  down 
from  Manchuria  (Manchuria  is  regarded  as  the  personal  property  of 
the  imperial  family  and  there  is  a  royal  monopoly  in  ponies)  but  the 
most  popular  saddle  animal  is  the  patient  donkey.  It  looks  ludicrous 
to  see  a  fat  Chinaman  perched  upon  the  rump  of  one  of  these  tiny 
beasts,  but  there  seems  to  be  entire  harmony  between  the  two  and  the 
donkey  trudges  along  with  little  thought  of  change. 

In  Canton  the  streets  are  not  wide  enough  for  the  'rikisha,  and 
both  the  pony  and  the  donkey  are  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  The 
sedan  chair,  borne  by  coolies,  was  the  only  conveyance  we  saw  in  a 
day's  tour  of  the  city,  and  it  required  some  engineering  to  make  any 
headway  with  it  when  two  parties  met. 

Although  the  business  buildings  are  seldom  more  than  two  stories 
high  (the  residences  are  usually  only  one  story),  the  streets  are  go 
narrow  and  so  filled  with  signs  and  advertising  banners  that  the  sun 


108 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


can  scarcely  find  its  way  to  the  pavement.  The  stores  are  narrow  little 
stalls  with  the  entire  front  open  to  the  street.  Often  there  is  a  little 
shrine  outside  the  door  where  incense  is  burned,  and  innumerable 
gods  of  wood,  brass  and  stone  are  to  be  seen. 

"While  in  their  style  of  dress  and  in  their  institutions  the  Chinese 
are  much  the  same  throughout  the  empire,  they  differ  considerably 
in  size  and  color  according  to  the  latitude,  and  in  features  according 
to  race  history.  In  the  north  the  people  are  lighter  and  larger  than 
in  the  south,  while  the  men  and  women  of  Manchuria  have  coarser 
and  stronger  faces  than  the  Chinese.  The  people  in  the  north  seem 
to  be  more  vigor- 
ous and  warlike 
and  less  artistic 
than  the  people  of 
the  south. 

The  shaved 
forehead  and  the 
queue  were  pre- 
scribed by  the 
Manchurian  rul- 
ers two  hundred 
and  fifty  years 
ago  as  a  sign  of 
subjection,  but 
they  are  now  a 
source  of  pride, 
and  no  greater 
humiliation  can 
be  inflicted  upon 
one  than  to  cut 
off  his  queue.  In 
the  northern 
provinces  the 
men,  women  and 
children  wear 
padded  clothes, 
generally  o  f  dark 
blue  cotton.     The 

breeches  of  the  men  are  tied  at  the  ankles  and  the  long,  narrow  coat 
reaches  almost  to  the  feet.  In  China  the  women  also  wear  trousers, 
but  they  are  more  like  the  American  article  and  the  coat  worn  by 


CHINESE    EMPEROR. 


CHINA— AS   SHE    WAS 


109 


the  women  is  considerably  shorter  than  that  worn  by  the  men.  China 
is  a  great  place  for  furs,  and  the  right  to  wear  sable  is  conferred  as 
a  mark  of  distinction  upon  the  higher  officials. 

The  Manchu  women  and  the  Chinese  women  differ  materially.  The 
Manehus,  whose  ancestors  came  from  Manchuria,  still  retain  the  cus- 
toms peculiar  to  their  section.  The  hair  is  stretched  over  a  broad, 
winglike  frame  and  three  hours  are  required  for  its  arrangement. 
Flowers,  natural  and  artificial,  and  ornaments  made  of  feathers,  heads 
and  tinsel  are  profusely  used  in  hair  decoration.  The  Manchu  women, 
except  the  widows,  employ  paint  and  powder  with  a  boldness  which 
would  put  to  shame  the  most  inveterate  user  of  cosmetics  in  America. 
In  the  painting  here  there  is  no  suggestion  of  a  delicate  glow  of 
health;  it  is  a  generous  application  of  bright  red  in  two  streaks,  run- 
ning from  above  the  eyes  to  the  corners  of  the  mouth.     The  rest  of 

the  face  is  whitened  with  rice 
powder,  which  does  not  har- 
monize with  the  yellow  skin 
of  the  neck. 

But  if  the  Manchu  women 
show  more  vanity  in  the 
treatment  of  the  face,  they 
at  least  do  not  imitate  the 
Chinese  women  in  the  bind' 
ing  of  the  feet,  though  by 
wearing  skirts  and  a  shoe 
resting  on  a  block,  shaped 
like  a  French  heel,  the  size 
of  the  foot  is  concealed. 

Foot-binding  is  probably 
the  strangest  form  that 
human  pride  has  ever  taken, 
and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that 
Chinese  women  from  time 
immemorial    have    endured 

THE    FATHER    OF    THE    CHINESE    EMPEROR,  the    agonies    of    foot-billding 

and  forced  it  upon  their 
daughters.  It  is  not  known  certainly  how  the  custom  originated.  One 
tradition  is  that  it  began  with  a  club-footed  queen;  another  that  it  was 
designed  to  distinguish  the  upper  class  women  from  the  coolies;  and 
a  third  tradition  has  it  that  it  was  a  scheme  devised  by  the  men  for 
keeping  the  women  at  home.     But  whatever  causes  may  have  led  to 


r                 /'^fc^ 

1    § '    ^V 

p 

Ik*           ^     **» 

V^A 

1 1  *i                        _  |j 

1  L  Am       U 

Kjf*,-,*— *T            Bb^^'^H 

tS~   ' 

'   \wH 

SGMfl» 

- 

EMPRESS     DOWAGER CHINA 


CHINA— AS    SHE    WAS 


111 


the  inauguration  of  the  custom,  it  has  become  so  firmly  established  that 
a  prominent  Chinaman  told  me  that  being  opposed  to  foot-binding,  he 
bad,  when  a  young  man,  tried  to  find  a  wife  with  natural  feet  hut  was 
not  able  (o  do  so.  Tic  has  in  recent  years  persuaded  his  wife  to  unbind 
her  feet  ;uid  has  kept  his  daughters  from  undergoing  the  ordeal. 

The  process,  as  described  by  a  physician  and  as  shown  in  a  photo- 
graph and  model  which  I  secured,  is  as  follows:  At  the  age  of  five 
or  six  the  little  girl's  feet  are  tightly  bandaged;  the  second,  third, 
fourth  and  fifth  toes  being  gradually  brought  back  under  the  ,-olc  of 
the  foot;  the  heel  is  then  drawn  forward  under  the  instep  and  the 
natural  growth  of  the  foot  entirely  arrested,  'he  medical  missionaries 
report  instances  in  which  the  foot  has  rotted  away  because  of  lack  of 
circulation.  On  one  of  the  boats  we  met  an  intelligent  Chinese  mer- 
chant who,  after  condemning  the  practice  of  foot-binding  and  tell- 
ing us  that,  in  opposition  to  his  wife's  wishes  and  in  opposition  to 
the  girl  herself,  he  had  saved  one  daughter  from  loot-binding,  com- 
pared this  custom  to  that  of  lacing,  affirming  that  the  latter  was 
much  more  injurious.  He  also  ventured  to  suggest  that  Chinese  women 
do  not  expose  'their  health  and  their  shoulders  in  decollete  gowns,  but 
perceiving  that  he  had  discovered  a  weak  spot  in  our  own  social  armor, 
1  hurriedly  changed  the  subject.  But  I  must  reserve  for  another 
article  the  discussion  of  other  characteristics. 


ONE    OF    THE    PRTXCTPAE    STREETS    OF    1'EKIN 


CHAPTER  X. 
CHINA— AS    SHE   WAS. 

PART  SECOND. 

In  the  first  article  on  China,  reference  was  made  to  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  Chinese,  but  the  subject  was  not  exhausted — 
in  fact,  it  would  require  several  articles  to  exhaust  this  subject,  and 
attention  can  only  be  given  to  those  traits  or  customs  which  are  in 
most  violent  contrast  with  our  own. 

Chinese  society  is  patriarchal  in  its  organization,  the  family  being 
the  unit  and  the  father  the  head  of  the  family.  The  Chinese  sages 
present  filial  piety  and  fraternal  submission  as  the  root  of  all  benevo- 
lent action.  The  children  are  subject  to  the  parents  as  long  as  the 
parents  live,  and  the  younger  sons  are  subject  to  the  eldest.  The 
four  relations  which  are  continually  discussed  by  the  philosophers  are : 
First,  the  relation  between  the  king  and  his  ministers;  second,  be- 
tween the  father  and  his-  sons ;  third,  between  the  elder  brother  and 
the  younger  brothers;  fourth,  between  the  individual  and  his  fellows, 
but  the  fourth  relation  receives  the  least  consideration. 

Marriages  are  arranged  by  the  parents,  and  the  children  must  be 
content  with  the  selection  made.  When  the  wife  is  taken  to  the  home 
of  the  husband,  she  becomes  a  member  of  his  family  and  subject  to 
her  mother-in-law,  if  the  husband's  mother  is  still  alive.  As  other 
sons  are  married  their  wives  are  brought  in  and  they  are  expected  to 
live  peaceably  together — an  expectation  which  is  not  always  fully 
realized.  As  law  and  custom  permit  the  system  of  concubinage,  it  is 
not  strange  that  the  home  is  often  the  scene  of  contention  rather 
than  the  center  of  felicity. 

As  the  duty  of  sacrificing  to  ancestors  falls  upon  the  son,  the  advent 
of  a  boy  is  the  signal  for  rejoicing,  while  the  birth  of  a  girl  is  not 
considered  a  good  omen.  So  unpopular  was  the  female  baby  that  in 
some  provinces  many  of  them  were  formerly  put  to  death,  but  child- 
murder  is  now  on  the  decrease. 

112 


CHINA— AS    SHE    WAS  113 

No  one  can  visit  China  without  becoming  acquainted  with  a  pe- 
culiarly oriental  phrase  called  "losing  face7'  One  of  the  first  news- 
papers that  I  picked  up  in  China  dascribed  the  attempted  suicide  of 
a  man  who  complained  that  he  had  "lost  his  face"  because  a  magis- 
trate refused  to  commence  a  prosecution  en  his  complaint.  In  China 
there  is  a  constant  effort  to  keep  up  appearances,  and  when  this  is  no 
longer  possible,  the  unfortunate  one  feels  that  he  can  not  look  any- 
one else  in  the  face.  Chinese  life  is  saturated  with  this  "face"  doctrine; 
it  percolates  through  their  disputes  and  oozes  out  through  the  pores  of 
their  diplomacy.  Justice  is  of  less  importance  in  the  deciding  of  a 
controversy  than  the  saving  of  the  parties  from  the  loss  of  "face." 
There  are  in  each  community  "peace-talkers"  who  make  a  business  of 
so  adjusting  disputes  that  neither  party  will  seem  to  be  in  the  wrong. 

In  dealing  with  China  this  national  characteristic  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  foreign  nations  have  in  their  nego- 
tiations sometimes  imitated  China  instead  of  setting  her  a  better  ex- 
ample. One  constantly  meets  over  here  with  the  theory  that  the  for- 
eigner must  conform  to  the  methods  of  the  Orient,  but  this  is  always 
advanced  as  an  excuse  for  following  a  bad  custom.  It  is  impossible  to 
convince  China  that  our  ideal  is  a  better  one  than  hers  unless  that 
ideal  is  embodied  in  action.  When  our  country  admitted  that  the  in- 
demnity collected  from  Japan  after  the  Shimonoseki  affair  was  exces- 
sive, and  returned  it,  she  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  Japanese.  It 
was  several  times  referred  to  by  speakers  during  our  recent  visit  to 
Japan  as  an  evidence  of  our  country's  desire  to  do  justice  to  other  na- 
tions. It  was  just  as  honorable  for  a  nation  to  acknowledge  an  error 
as  it  is  for  an  individual  to  do  so,  and  our  nation  has  an  opportunity 
to  admit  another  excessive  demand  and  return  to  China  a  part  of  the 
indemnity  collected  at  the  close  of  the  Boxer  trouble. 

No  nation  has  ever  given  more  emphasis  to  ceremony  than  does 
China.  Confucius  places  propriety  among  the  cardinal  virtues,  and 
the  doctrine  has  been  elaborated  until  the  whole  life  is  fettered  by 
formality..  Each  rising  generation  is  drilled  in  the  performance  of 
certain  rites  required  by  approved  etiquette,  and  it  would  be  humil- 
iating for  one  to  have  to  confess  that  he  did  not  know  the  proper  thing 
to  do  and  the  proper  way  to  do  it,  Even  sincerity  is  considered  much 
less  important,  and  both  Confucius  and  Mencius  set  demoralizing 
examples  in  placing  the  latter  above  the  former.  In  the  Analects, 
an  instance  is  given  where  one,  Joo  Pei,  wished  to  see  Confucius,  but 
the  latter  refused  to  see  him  "on  the  ground  of  being  sick."  When 
the  bearer  of  the  message  had  left,  Confucius  "took  his  harpsicord, 


m 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


and  tang  to  it,  in  order  that  Pci  might  hear  him."  It  is  related  of 
Mencius  that  he  was  about  to  go  to  court  to  see  the  king  when  he  re- 
ceived a  message  from  the  king  saying  that  the  latter  "was  wishing 
to  call  on  Mencius  but  was  detained  by  a  cold."  Mencius  replied, 
"Unfortunately,  I  am  unwell  and  unable  to  go  to  court,"  but  the 
next  day  he  went  out  and  paid  a  visit  of  condolence  to  another  family. 
While  he  was  absent  from  the  house  the  king's  messenger  called  with 
a  physician,  whereupon  the  representative  of  Mencius  explained  that 
he  was  sick  the  day  before,  but  that  being  a  little  better  he  had 
hastened  to  court.  It  was  then  necessary  to  send  out  several  men  to 
intercept  Mencius  and  get  him  to  the  king's  house.  All  of  this  subter- 
fuge was  resorted  to  in  order  to  get  the  king  to  call  upon  Mencius  first. 


HOUSE  BOATS  AT  CANTON. 


The  kowtow  is  still  a  part  of  the  ceremonial  greeting.  If  two 
officials  are  riding  and  meet,  they  dismount  and  bow  their  heads  to 
the  ground.  In  the  schools  the  students  kowtow  before  a  Confucian 
tablet  twice  each  month.  When  wTe  visited  the  government  school 
at  Shanghai  we  noticed  mats  upon  the  floor  of  the  otherwise  empty 
assembly  hall,  and  upon  inquiry  learned  that  at  seven  the  next  morn- 
ing the  students  would  perform  the  usual  Confucian  rites.  These 
consist  of  a  series  of  kowtows.  At  a  given  signal  the  students  kneel 
on  the  mats  and  bow  three  times  toward  the  tablet,  their  heads  each 


CHINA— AS    SHE    WAS  115 

time  touching  the  floor;  they  then  rise  and  after  a  short  interval 
kneel  again  at  a  signal  and  bow  three  times  more.  This  ceremony  is 
again  repeated,  making  nine  bows  in  all.  Then  they  kneel  and  bow 
three  times  to  the  professors;  after  saluting  the  professors  each  stu- 
dent bows  once  to  the  student  next  to  him  and  the  meeting  adjourns. 
We  thought  it  would  be  interesting  to  witness  this  service  in  honor 
of  one  who  has  received  more  formal  reverence  (ban  any  other  mortal, 
and  arising  before  it  was  light,  we  made  the  journey  to  the  college, 
which  is  distant  an  hour's  ride  from  the  hotel.  When  we  arrived 
we  found  that  for  some  reason  which  we  could  not  ascertain,  the 
ceremony  would  not  be  performed.  Whether  the  postponement  was 
due  to  objection  to  the  presence  of  foreigners  (visitors  had  been 
present  on  former  occasions)  or  to  some  other  cause,  was  left  in  mys- 
tery. 

Our  morning  ride,  however,  answered  one  purpose;  as  the  road  ran 
some  distance  by  the  side  of  a  little  stream,  it  enabled  us  to  see  some- 
thing of  houseboat  life.  Hundreds  of  little  boats  line  the  stream,  and 
in  their  diminutive  mat-covered  cabins  were  housed  thousands  of 
natives,  many  of  whom  are  born,  live  and  die  in  these  unstable  homes. 
As  they  were  preparing  the  morning  meal  we  had  a  chance  to  con- 
firm the  stories  regarding  their  want  of  cleanliness.  It  was  not  an 
uncommon  thing  to  see  a  woman  washing  rice  in  the  muddy  water 
and  a  few  feet  away,  another  woman  throwing  refuse  matter  into 
the  stream,  or  a  man  performing  his  morning  ablutions.  At  Canton 
one  has  a  still  larger  opportunity  to  observe  houseboat  life  where  the 
Pearl  river  furnishes  the  water  supply  and  at  the  same  time  an  open 
sewer  for  a  floating  population  of  many  thousands. 

The  contrast  between  the  bath-loving  Japanese  and  the  dirty,  com- 
placent Chinese  laborer  is  very  marked  and  this  contrast  is  also  notice- 
able in  the  streets.  The  sights  and  smells  that  greet  the  senses  along 
the  narrow  streets  of  a  native  city  are  not  soon  forgotten  by  one  who 
travels  through  China,  and  one's  ideas  of  modesty,  too,  are  sadly 
wrenched. 

But  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  habits  of  the  lower  class  Chinese, 
they  are  an  industrious  and  patient  people.  After  watching  them 
work  and  observing  the  conditions  under  which  thev  live,  one  can 
scarcely  begrudge  them  whatever  comfort  they  can  find  in  the  dreams 
of  Heaven  which  they  draw  from  their  opium  pipes.  And  speaking 
of  opium,  one  is  restrained  from  speaking  too  harshly  of  the  habit 
by  a  recollection  of  the  fact  that  the  opium  trade  was  forced  upon  the 
"Heathen  Chinee"  by  a  great  Christian  nation. 


116  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

The  Chinese  have  their  amusements,  one  of  which  is  the  theatre. 
We  attended  one  theatre  in  Pekin  and  found  the  room  crowded  with 
men.  It  was  a  commodious  hall  with  a  gallery,  but  the  stage  was 
not  relatively  so  large  as  in  Japan.  The  acting  reminded  us  more  of 
the  American  stage  than  did  the  Japanese,  but  the  scenery  was  ex- 
ceedingly scanty.  The  audience  expressed  itself  in  approval  or  dis- 
approval with  a  good  deal  of  freedom. 

We  found  a  sport  in  China  which  we  have  not  heard  of  elsewhere, 
viz.,  quail  fighting.  These  little  birds  are  matched  against  each  other 
as  fighting  cocks  are  in  the  Spanish  countries.  One  American  told 
us  of  a  fight  between  cockroaches.  These  combats,  as  well  as  those 
between  the  quails,  give  an  opportunity  for  betting — a  vice  which 
prevails  in  the  Orient  as  well  as  in  the  Occident. 

The  Chinese  have  a  bird  contest  which  involves  neither  cruelty  nor 
bloodshed,  although  the  element  of  gambling  is  also  present  in  it. 
I  refer  to  the  singing  matches  between  larks.  The  Chinese  are  very 
fond  of  birds  and  one  cannot  go  upon  the  street  without  seeing  men 
carrying  bird  cages.  The  birds  are  aired  much  as  pet  dogs  are  exer- 
cised in  our  country.  The  favorite  singing  bird  is  the  lark,  and  these 
are  entered  by  their  owners  in  contests,  considerable  sums  often  being 
placed  upon  a  bird.  The  award  is  made  by  the  birds  themselves,  one 
after  another  confessing  defeat  until  but  one  songster  is  left  upon  his 
perch.  The  winner  is  quite  exultant,  while  the  others  show  as  much 
humiliation  as  a  Chinaman  who  has  "lost  his  face.'"'  The  defeated 
birds  will  not  sing  again  for  months. 

In  another  article  I  have  referred  to  the  superstitions  so  wide- 
spread in  China.  There  is  one  form  of  superstition  which  has  inter- 
fered with  both  religion  and  commerce.  The  natives  have  for  cen- 
turies been  the  victims  of  sorcerers  and  fortune  tellers  who,  professing 
a  knowledge  of  terrestrial  and  celestial  forces,  style  themselves  "Fung- 
shui"  doctors  and  make  a  living  by  selecting  lucky  burial  sites,  fore- 
telling the  future,  etc.  There  are  certain  spirits  which  are  supposed 
to  preside  over  certain  places,  and  any  change  in  the  conformation 
of  the  ground  is  thought  to  anger  the  spirits.  A  railroad  cut  or  fill 
i-  sometimes  objected  to  for  this  reason,  and  a  church  spire  is,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  superstitious,  liable  to  endanger  the  peace  and  safety 
of  a  community.  However,  commerce  is  extending  in  spite  of  the 
"spirits"  and  the  Christian  religion  is  gradually  making  headway 
against  superstition. 

At  Pekin  I  attended  a  morning  service  at  the  Methodist  church 
where  some  six  hundred  Chinese  men  and  women  listened  to  a  sermon 


CHINA— AS   SHE    WAS 


117 


in  their  own  language  delivered  by  an  American  missionary.  On 
Thanksgiving  day  we  ate  dinner  at  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  and 
during  our  travels  through  China  met  a  number  of  ministers,  physi- 
cians and  teachers.  They  all  testified  to  the  stimulus  given  to  the 
spread  of  religion  by  the  fidelity  shown  by  the  Chinese  Christians 
during  the  Boxer  troubles.  At  Nanking  we  visited  a  school  conducted 
by  the  Disciples  or  Christian  Church,  and  at  Shanghai,  a  school 
supported  by  the  Episcopalian  Church  of  America.     There  is  also  at 


YUAN    SIII    KAI VICEROY    TIENTSIN    AND    FEK:N 

Shanghai  a  college,  the  main  purpose  of  which  is  to  bring  the  white 
and  yellow  races  into  closer  harmony.  Prof.  Isaac  T.  Headland  of 
the  Methodist  University  at  Pekin  has  published  a  volume  entitled 
"Chinese  Heroes,"  in  which  he  gives  a  number  of  instances  of  con- 
secrated devotion  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Christian  faith, 
and  why  should  not  China  be  a  promising  mission  field?  Buddhism 
has  here  done  its  perfect  wTork  and  can  not  reasonably  ask  for  a 
further  trial;  the  philosophy  of  the  sages  has  also  been  shown  impo- 
tent for  the  harmonious  development  of  the  three-fold  man.    China 


118  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

has  followed  an  ideal  and  followed  it  with  a  diligence  rarely  ex- 
hibited, but  that  ideal  has  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found 
wanting.  It  is  often  said  in  defense  of  Confucianism  that  its  founder 
gave  to  his  disciples  the  golden  rule,  stated  in  its  negative  form,  but 
too  little  emphasis  has  been  given  to  the  difference  between  the  doc- 
trine of  Confucius,  "Do  not  unto  others  as  yon  would  not  have  others 
do  unto  you,"  and,  the  doctrine  of  the  Nazarene,  "Whatsoever  ye  would 
that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them."  There  is  a  world 
of  difference  between  negative  harmlessness  and  positive  helpfulness, 
and  Christianity  could  well  afford  to  rest  its  case  against  Confucian- 
ism on  the  comparison  of  these  two  doctrines. 

In  the  Analects  of  Confucius  the  philosopher  is  asked,  "Is  there  one 
word  which  may  serve  as  a  rule  of  practice  for  all  one's  life?"  He 
was  answered,  "Is  not  reciprocity  such  a  word?"  Here  we  have  the 
doctrine  of  selfishness  as  plausibly  presented  as  it  will  ever  be  again. 
Life  is  described  as  a  balancing  of  favors — a  nice  calculation  of  good 
done  and  good  received.  There  is  no  suggestion  here  of  a  heart 
overflowing  with  love,  no  intimation  of  a  blessedness  to  be  found  in 
giving. 

At  another  time  someone  asked  Confucius,  "What  do  you  say  con- 
cerning the  principle  that  injury  should  be  recompensed  with  kind- 
ness?'' He  replied,  "With  what  then  will  you  recompense  kindness? 
Recompense  injury  with  justice  and  recompense  kindness  with  kind- 
ness." In  reply  to  another  question,  he  goes  so  far  as  to  charge  that 
one  "who  returns  good  for  evil,  is  a  man  that  is  careful  of  his  person." 
How  different  these  precepts  are  from  those  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount!  Christians  are  accused  of  failure  to  live  up  to  the  high  ideal 
presented  by  Jesus,  and  the  accusation  is  just,  and  yet.  although  the 
Christian  nations  fall  far  short  of  the  measure  which  they  themselves 
recognize,  although  professing  Christians  reflect  but  imperfectly  the 
rays  which  fall  upon  them  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  they  are 
leading  the  world  in  all  that  is  ennobling  and  uplifting,  and  China 
gives  silent  recognition  to  the  superiority  of  the  western  ideal  in  every 
reform  which  she  undertakes. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


EDUCATION,   RELIGION  AND  PHILOSOPHY. 

Chinese  education  has  been  very  much  overestimated.  The  literati 
have  boasted  of  the  antiquity  of  the  government  and  educational 
system,  the  invention  of  the  compass,  the  printing  press  and  of  gun- 
powder, and  the  western  world  has  been  inclined  to  concede  their 
claims,  but  these  claims  will  not  bear  investigation.  The  government 
is  ancient,  but  it  is  also  antiquated.  The  emperor  exercises  a  power 
as  unlimited  as  that  of  the  czar  and  is  as  inaccessible  to  his  subjects. 
The  ruling  family  seized  the  throne  two  and  a  half  centuries  ago  and 
has  retained  power  because  the  people  have  learned  to  submit  to 
almost  anything.  The  laws  have  not  only  been  arbitrary,  but  they 
have  been  cruel;  the  officials  have  not  only  been  appointed  without 
consulting  the  governed,  but  they  have  been  shamelessly  corrupt. 

When  Confucius  and  Mencius  taught,  they  complained  of  the  de- 
generacy of  the  government,  and  in  more  than  twenty  centuries  that 
have  elapsed  since  those  days,  there  has  been  no  marked  improve- 
ment. Of  course  there  have  been  pure  and  patriotic  men  in  high 
places  occasionally,  but  the  government  showed  neither  perfection 
then  nor  improvement  afterwards — until  within  the  last  few  years. 

What  if  the  compass  was  known  to  the  Chinese  before  it  was  to 
Europe?  They  made  little  use  of  it  compared  with  the  use  to  which 
it  was  put  by  the  Portuguese,  the  Spaniards,  the  Dutch  and  other 
Europeans. 

They  invented  gunpowder,  and  yet  they  equipped  their  soldier? 
with  bows  and  arrows  down  to  the  present  generation. 

They  invented  the  printing  press,  and  yet  until  recently  they  had 
scarcely  any  newspapers  and  but  few  books.  I  shall  speak  in  another 
article  of  the  improvement  in  this  direction,  but  as  an  evidence  of 
the  little  use  made  of  the  printing  press  even  now,  I  record  the  fact 
that  in  a  four  days'  ride  (at  present  tie'  train  runs  only  in  the  day- 
time) from  the  capital  of  the  empire  to  Hankow,  through  a  densely 
populated  section,  we  did  not  see  a  man  reading  a  paper  or  hear  the 
voice  of  a  newsboy. 

119 


120  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Equally  without  justification  is  the  boast  of  great  learning  among 
the  people.  They  have  had  no  educational  system  and  their  children 
have  had  to  rely  upon  private  schools,  a  few  families  getting  together 
and  hiring  a  teacher.  Even  then  the  main  purpose  of  their  higher 
education  was  to  obtain  a  government  position.  As  only  a  very  lim- 
ited number  could  possibly  be  selected  at  the  competitive  examina- 
tions held  by  the  government,  there  was  small  incentive  to  study 
and  the  written  language,  with  two  hundred  and  fourteen  radicals 
and  twelve  hundred  different  characters,  was  enough  to  discourage 
even  the  ambitious.  A  Chinese  official  informed  me  that  not  more 
than  one  man  in  a  hundred  could  write  a  letter  and  that  not  more 
than  one  in  ten  could  understand  a  letter  when  read  to  him. 

The  object  of  the  schools,  such  as  they  had,  was  to  cultivate  the 
memory  and  to  teach  the  pupils  to  write  essays  expounding  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Chinese  sages.  All  of  the  schools  used  the  same  text 
book,  the  primer  in  universal  use  having  been  prepared  over  eight 
hundred  years  ago.  Education  was  limited  in  the  number  who  re- 
ceived it  and  limited  in  the  amount  provided,  and  the  course  of 
instruction  was  fossilized.  None  of  the  students  were  taught  any- 
thing about  the  outside  world  and  but  few  of  the  people  were  students. 
It  is  sufficient  evidence  of  the  absolute  failure  of  their  educational 
system  to  compare  this  great  empire,  containing  approximately  one- 
fourth  of  the  population  of  the  globe,  with  even  the  smaller  states  of 
Europe  in  the  production  of  scientists,  scholars  and  poets.  China  has 
had  diplomats  and  astute  statesmen,  but  these  have  been  developed  in 
the  school  of  experience  rather  than  in  halls  of  learning.  Consider- 
ing the  educational  opportunities  furnished,  it  is  astonishing  that  she 
has  produced  any  great  men  at  all. 

China  has  her  religions  and  they  have  doubtless  exerted  a  mould- 
ing influence  upon  the  people,  but  the  influence  has  not  been  an  un- 
mixed good.  Take,  for  instance,  ancestor  worship;  it  contains  a 
germ  of  good,  in  that  it  teaches  respect  and  care  for  parents,  but  the 
spirit  has  been  lost  in  the  observance  of  the  letter  until  the  welfare  of 
i lie  living  is  neglected,  that  senseless  sacrifices  may  be  made  to  the 
dead.  At  Canton  we  visited  a  place  called  "The  Place  of  the  Dead." 
It  is  connected  with  a  Buddhist  temple  and  is  just  outside  the  city 
wall.  There  are  some  four  hundred  rooms  in  the  group  of  buildings 
and  nearly  every  room  contains  a  coffin.  Here  the  well-to-do  de- 
posil  the  body  of  an  ancestor  and  keep  incense  burning  as  long  as 
they  can  afford  to  pay  for  it.  Kent  must  be  paid  for  the  rooms;  the 
light   must   be  kept  bright;   food  and  drink  must  be  offered  to  the 


EDUCATION,    RELIGION    AND    PHILOSOPHY  121 

departed  each  day  and  (he  incense  must  be  paid  for.  As  someone 
has  remarked,  it  costs  more  to  care  for  a  dead  ancestor  than  a  live  one 
We  saw  one  coffin  that  had  cost  three  thousand  dollars;  it  had  been 
in  the  building  for  .sixteen  years  and  had  been  moved  from  one  apart- 
ment to  another,  a  cheaper  one  being  chosen  each  time  as  the  re- 
sources of  the  family  declined.  In  some  cases  the  families  have  be- 
come so  poor  that  they  can  neither  pay  rent  nor  buy  a  burying  plot. 

There  is  also  at  Canton  an  ancestral  hall  where  for  a  specified  sum 
the  name  of  an  ancestor  may  be  inscribed  on  a  little  wooden  tablet; 
incense  is  also  burned  here,  too.  Foreign  residents  relate  instances 
where  servants  have  spent  three  years'  income  in  burying  a  parent, 
the  money  being  borrowed  and  gradually  repaid  from  the  earnings. 
Besides  the  first  cost  of  burial,  there  must  be  frequent  pilgrimages 
to  the  grave.  It  is  within  the  bounds  of  truth  to  say  that  the  money 
expended  in  elaborate  funerals,  in  sacrifices  to  the  dead,  and  in  period- 
ical pilgrimages  to  tombs  would  have  gone  far  toward  educating  and 
enlightening  each  rising  generation — and  who  will  say  that  respect 
for  the  dead  can  better  be  shown  by  formal  ceremonies  than  by  a 
proper  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  descendants? 

The  tombs  of  the  royal  family  are  always  objects  of  interest  to 
the  tourist.  The  most  famous  of  these  tombs  are  north  of  Pekin  and 
so  near  to  the  great  wall  that  they  are  usually  vi>ited  at  the  same  time, 
three  or  four  days  being  required  for  the  trip.  There  are  other 
tombs  of  less  renown  still  nearer  to  Pekin,  while  the  tomb  of  the 
first  emperor  of  the  Ming  dynasty  is  just  outside  the  walls  of  Nan- 
king. Some  of  these  tombs  are  mere  masses  of  masonry  now,  but  all 
were  once  richly  carved.  The  avenues  leading  up  to  these  tombs  are 
lined  with  large  stone  figures  of  men  and  animals.  These  are  arranged 
in  pairs,  one  on  each  side  of  the  road — two  huge  warriors,  two  priests, 
two  elephants  standing,  two  elephants  kneeling,  two  camels  standing 
and  two  kneeling,  two  horses  standing  and  two  kneeling,  and  lions, 
bears  and  other  animals  in  like  positions.  These  figures  are  put  near  the 
tomb  that  the  ruler  may  be  supplied  with  the  things  needful  for  his 
happiness  in  the  spirit  world.  And,  speaking  of  tombs,  the  worship  of 
ancestors  is  destined  to  make  China  a  vast  graveyard,  if,  as  now,  graves 
cannot  be  disturbed.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment cautioned  the  Russians  and  Japanese  not  to  trespass  upon  the 
graveyards  at  Mukden,  where  a  number  of  Manchu  emperors  are 
buried  The  graves  of  the  masses  are  as  securely  regarded,  although  dis- 
tinguished merely  by  a  mound.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  large  cities 
the  cemeteries  cover  many  square  miles,  and  as  they  are  constantly 


122  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

added  to  and  never  diminished,  they  occupy  an  ever  increasing  area. 
In  the  agricultural  districts  the  burying  grounds  are  scattered  through 
the  fields,  each  family  having  its  own  plot.  Sometimes  when  the 
family  has  died  out,  the  mound  is  neglected  and  the  coffin  is  exposed. 
At  Shanghai  and  at  Nanking  we  saw  a  number  of  coffins  in  the  fields 
which  had  never  been  covered. 

The  temples  of  China  are  interesting,  but  are  generally  in  a  state 
of  decay.  The  Confucian  temple  at  Pekin  is  visited  once  a  yen 
when  sacrifices  are  made  to  China's  supreme  sage.  The  court  of  the 
temple  is  filled  with  gnarled  and  knotted  cedars  of  great  age,  in 
which  a  colony  of  crows  was  chanting  a  requiem  when  we  were  there. 
There  are  also  in  the  court  numerous  tablets  of  marble,  each  resting 
on  the  back  of  a  stone  turtle  and  bearing  inscriptions;  there  are 
other  tablets  bearing  quotations  from  the  writings  of  Confucius. 

At  Canton  our  guide  took  us  to  the  temple  of  the  five  hundred  gods. 
They  represent  Buddhistic  saints,  are  life  size  and  each  has  an  incense 
urn  before  him.  One  of  the  gods  has  a  very  long  arm,  he  being  the 
one  who  puts  the  moon  up  at  nights;  another  represents  a  saint  avIio 
cut  open  his  breast  and  exposed  an  image  of  Buddha  to  prove  his 
fidelity  to  the  faith. 

(Our  guide  at  Canton  was  Ah  Cum,  who  had  conducted  travelers 
through  the  city  for  more  than  forty  years  and  has  brought  up  his 
sons  to  the  same  profession.  I  mention  his  name  for  the  benefit  of 
any  readers  of  these  lines  who  may  chance  to  visit,  as  even''  tourist 
should,   this  most  Chinese  of  Chinese  cities.) 

There  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Pekin  a  temple  with  several  thousand 
images  of  Buddha,  but  they  are  small  and  made  of  clay,  the  original 
bronze  images  having  been  carried  away  by  the  foreign  troops  during 
the  Boxer  troubles. 

Close  to  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Pekin  stands  what  is  called  th/j 
Yellow  Temple,  a  rare  work  of  art.  The  figures  representing  incidents 
in  the  life  of  Buddha  are  very  skillfully  carved  and  one  can  not  help 
feeling  indignation  at  the  vandalism  of  the  foreign  soldiers  who, 
during  the  Boxer  troubles,  defaced  this  ancient  monument.  By  far 
the  mosl  impressive  and  elaborate  religious  structure  in  China  is  the 
"Altar  of  Heaven,"  not  far  from  the  city  of  Pekin.  It  was  built  urn 
der  the  Ming  dynasty  five  hundred  years  ago  and  is  still  visited  twice 
each  year  by  the  emperor,  who  here  offers  sacrifices  to  heaven.  The 
sacrificial  altar  is  built  entirely  of  white  marble.  Tf  is  a  triple  circular 
terrace,  (lie  base  being  a  little  more  than  two  hundred  feet  in  diameter. 
the   middle   terrace  one  hundred  and   fifty   feet  and  the  top  terrace 


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124  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

nearly  a  hundred  feet,  each  terrace  being  enclosed  by  a  beautifully 
carved  balustrade.  It  stands  about  eighteen  feet  high,  and  the  em- 
peror ascending  to  it  alone,  kneels  at  midnight  and,  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  whole  people,  makes  his  offering  to  heaven-  A  bullock 
without  a  blemish  is  used  as  the  offering  on  these  occasions.  In  archi- 
tecture the  altar  reminds  one  of  the  Greek  structures,  while  some  of 
the  features  of  the  ceremony  recall  the  rites  of  the  Israelites  as  de- 
scribed in  the  Old  Testament. 

Near  to  this  altar  is  a  pagoda,  standing  upon  another  triple,  but 
smaller,  marble  terrace;  it  is  popularly  known  as  the  "Temple  of 
Heaven.''  Here  on  the  first  day  of  the  Chinese  year  the  emperor  offers 
his  supplications  to  heaven  for  a  blessing  upon  the  year.  This  is  the 
most  graceful  and  symmetrical  pagoda  in  the  empire,  if  not  in  the 
Orient,  and  no  one  who  visits  the  capital  should  fail  to  see  it.  Both 
the  altar  and  the  temple  are  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and  the  en- 
closed court  is  shaded  by  veteran  cedars. 

While  Buddhism  has  been  regarded  as  the  religion  of  China,  Tao- 
ism has  also  influenced  the  thought  of  the  nation.  It  teaches  the 
existence  of  spirits  but  has  degenerated  into  superstition  and  the 
attempted  conciliation  of  evil  spirits.  For  instance,  before  each  of- 
ficial residence  and  before  many  private  residences  will  be  found  a 
wall,  higher  and  wider  than  the  front  door,  the  purpose  of  which 
is  to  keep  out  the  evil  spirits,  which  are  supposed  to  travel  only  in 
a  straight  line.  When  a  building  is  to  be  made  more  than  two  stories 
high,  bunches  of  leaves  are  often  tied  to  the  top  of  the  poles  used  for 
scaffolding:  this  is  done  to  deceive  the  evil  spirits  and  make  them 
believe  that  it  is  a  forest  instead  of  a  building,  they  being  supposed 
to  be  hostile  to  high  buildings.  After  the  roof  is  on,  however,  the 
building  is  safe,  but  the  ridge  pole  must  curve  up  at  the  ends  to  keep 
the  spirits  from  descending.  Boys  are  very  much  at  a.  premium  in 
China,  because  the  duty  of  guarding  the  graves  devolves  upon  the 
oldest  son.  If  a  man  loses  a  boy  or  two,  he  sometimes  dresses  the 
next  boy  like  a  girl  in  order  to  deceive  the  spirits,  for  a  girl  is,  or  at 
1<  ;i~t  used  to  be,  beneath  the  notice  of  even  evil  spirits.  A  very  intel- 
ligent Chinaman  explained  the  disinclination  of  the  ordinary  China- 
man to  rescue  a  drowning  man  on  the  ground  that  if  the  evil  spirits 
were  trying  to  drown  the  man,  they  would  resent  and  punish  any 
attempt  to  save  him. 

But  more  potent  than  either  Buddhism  or  Taoism  has  been  the  in- 
fluence  of  Confucius  and  his  commentators.  This  great  philosopher 
was  born   551    b.   c,   and  Mencius,  his   greatest   disciple,   nearly  two 


EDUCATION,    RELIGION    AM)    PHILOSOPHY 


125 


hundred  years  later.  The  moral  principles  discussed  by  them  were 
not  presented  as  original  conceptions  but  rather  urged  as  the  princi- 
ples of  previous  emperors  whose  lives  were  regarded  as  ideal.  In 
another  article,  in  the  discus.- ion  of  China's  awakening,  I  shall  speak 
of  the  ethical  teachings  of  Confucius,  but  it  is  worth  while  to  note 
at  this  time  that  his  utterances  with 
regard  to  government  fall  far  short 
of  the  generally  accepted  doctrines  of 
to-day.  While  he  insisted  that  rulers 
owed  certain  duties  to  their  subjects, 
and  were  good  or  bad  in  proportion 
as  they  set  an  example  of  virtue  and 
governed  wisely,  he  did  not  intimate 
that  the  people  have  either  the  right 
to,  or  the  capacity  for,  self-govern- 
ment. His  doctrines  support  the  idea 
that  classes  are  necessary,  the 
"superior"  people  governing  and 
teaching,  the  rest  doing  the  manual 
labor. 

Confucius  taught  that  those  who 
were  not  in  office  need  not  concern 
themselves  about  the  administration 
of  the  government — a  doctrine 
which  paralyzed  the  patriotism  of 
the  masses  and  invited  abuses  on  the 
part  of  the  officials. 

The  system  by  which  officials  were 
chosen  was  also  calculated  to  breed 
selfishness  and  indifference  to  the 
public  weal,  as  well  as  to  impede 
progress.  The  course  of  instruction, 
as  before  stated,  contemplated  mere- 
ly the  memorizing  of  the  Chinese 
classics  composed  of  the  sayings  of 
the  sages,  poetry  and  Chinese  his- 
tory. 

The  aspirants  for  honors  were  not  required  to  think  for  themselves, 
to  understand  the  problems  of  their  generation  or  to  know  anything  of 
the  science  of  government.  To  compose  a  good  essay  upon  what  Con- 
fucius said,  upon  what  Mencius  thought,  or  upon  what  Shun  or  Wan 


ILLUSTRATION  OF   FOOT  BINDING. 


126 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


®r  Woo  did  was  sufficient.    This  naturally  chained  each  generation  to 

the  past  and  locked  the  door  to  advancement. 

The  successful  candidate  felt  that  his  appointment  was  due  to  his 
own  merit  and  that  ho  was  under  no  obligation  to  anyone  except  the 
members  of  his  family  who  had  furnished  the  money  necessary  to 
enable  him  to  take  the  various  examinations.  Neither  the  securing 
of  the  office  nor  the  retaining  of  it  rested  upon  his  ability  to  devise 
wise  policies  or  upon  his  interest  in  the  people  at  large.  The  em- 
peror with  unlimited  power  was  above  him,  and  the  people  with  un- 
limited patience  were  below  him. 

In  later  years  the  examinations  have  sometimes  become  a  farce,  and 
rank  has  been  offered  to  the  highest  bidder,  bidding  being  encouraged 
by  an  intimation  that  this  might  be  the  last  chance.  But  even  when 
honestly  conducted,  the  civil  service  system  of  China  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  develop  the  official  or  to  secure  a  good,  wise  and  progressive 
government. 


TRAVELTXO  TX  NORTH  CHINA 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CHINA'S   AWAKENING. 

In  what  I  have  said  of  the  Chinese  government,  system  of  education, 
religion  and  superstitions,  I  have  referred  to  the  nation  as  it  has  been 
for  some  twenty  centuries — chained  to  tradition,  stagnant,  asleep.  So- 
ciety was  stratified;  those  in  power  seemed  to  have  no  higher  aspira- 
tion than  to  live  upon  the  labor  of  the  masses,  and  the  masses  seemed 
to  entertain  no  thought  of  emancipation.  The  life  of  the  people  was 
occupied  with  ceremony,  but  there  was  no  genuine  fellowship  or  sympa- 
thetic connection  between  them,  outside  of  the  family  tie,  and  even 
the  family  was  likely  to  be  a  storm  center  because  of  the  conflicting 
interests  collected  under  one  roof.  Education  was  monopolized  by  a 
comparatively  few,  and  there  was  no  breadth  to  such  instruction  as  was 
given.  Superstition  took  the  place  of  religion  and  the  placating  of  the 
spirits  of  the  deceased  outweighed  the  nurture  and  development  of  those 
still  on  earth. 

But  a  change  is  taking  place  in  China  such  as  has  revolutionized 
Japan  within  the  last  half  century.  The  sleeping  giantess,  whose 
drowsy  eyes  have  so  long  been  shut  to  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun, 
is  showing  unmistakable  signs  of  an  awakening.  There  was  a  vitality 
among  her  people  which  even  two  thousand  years  of  political  apathy 
could  not  exhaust — a  sturdiness  which  centuries  of  poverty  and  super- 
stition could  not  entirely  destroy.  Increasing  contact  with  Europe 
and  America  is  having  its  influence,  and  the  example  of  Japan  is  even 
more  potent,  for  the  people  of  Japan  are  not  only  neighbors,  but  are 
more  like  them  in  color  and  race  characteristics.  Let  me  note  some 
of  the  evidences  of  this  change. 

The  government,  so  long  an  absolute  despotism,  is  about  to  become 
a  constitutional  monarchy.  In  1898  the  emperor,  under  the  influence 
of  some  radical  reformers,  prepared  a  program  almost  revolutionary  in 
its  character.  Recognizing  that  his  aunt,  the  dowager  empress,  would 
oppose  him,  he  prepared  to  put  her  under  guard  while  the  change  was 
being  made,  but  the  old  lady,  learning  of  his  plan,  promptly  took 

127 


128  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

him  in  hand  and  made  him  a  prisoner  in  his  own  palace.  Since  that 
time  she  has  been  the  unquestioned  ruler  of  the  empire,  the  nominal 
emperor  affixing  his  signature  to  the  papers  which  she  prepares.  But 
so  rapidly  has  the  situation  developed  that  she  is  now  instituting  ths 
very  reforms  for  the  suggestion  of  which  she  so  recently  imprisoned 
her  nephew.  A  commission  of  prominent  officials  is  now  abroad,  some 
in  Europe,  some  in  America,  studying  the  constitutions  and  govern- 
mental institutions  of  other  countries.  What  a  concession,  when  we 
remember  the  self-sufficiency  >  of  China,  the  characterization  of  sur- 
rounding nations  as  "rude  tribes"  and  the  use  of  the  term  "barba- 
rians" t<»  designate  even  those  with  whom  she  made  treaties ! 

It  is  reported  that  the  dowager-empress  recently  called  her  councilors 
together  and  asked  how  long  it  would  take  to  establish  a  constitutional 
government.  When  told  that  it  would  probably  require  twelve  or  fif- 
teen years,  she  replied  that  it  must  be  done  sooner  than  that  as  she 
could  not  hope  to  live  much  longer,  and  wanted  it  in  operation  before 
she  died.  Whether  she  appreciates  the  full  importance  of  the  change 
may  be  doubted,  but  the  fact  that  the  great  nations,  with  the  exception 
of  Russia,  have  constitutions,  has  doubtless  made  its  impression  upon 
her;  and  Russia's  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Japanese,  coupled  with 
present  internal  disturbances  in  the  czar's  domain,  contains  its  lesson. 

As  early  as  1901,  a  commission  was  appointed  to  examine  and  re- 
port on  all  proposed  measures  affecting  the  organization  and  admin- 
istration of  the  government,  and  in  1904  a  general  assembly  of  the 
ministers  of  the  principal  boards  was  provided  for.  While  these  new- 
ly created  bodies  have  no  legislative  power,  they  indicate  the  trend 
toward  a  more  popular  government.  The  constitution,  when  adopted, 
as  it  ultimately  will  be,  will  inaugurate  a  parliamentary  system.  There 
is,  therefore,  a  distinct  advance  along  governmental  lines,  and  this-in 
itself  means  much  for  China,  and  for  the  outside  world. 

The  criminal  code  is  also  being  revised.  The  Hon.  Wu  Ting  Fang, 
former  minister  to  the  United  States  and  now  vice-president  of  the 
board  of  foreign  affairs,  has  been  made  a  member  of  the  board  of 
punishments.  He  and  Shen  Chia  Pen,  the  vice-president  of  the  board 
of  punishments,  have  by  imperial  decree  been  intrusted  with  the  re- 
vision  and  codifying  of  the  laws  of  China,  They  have  established  a 
bureau  with  a  staff  of  secretaries  and  translators  and  have  spent  two 
years  in  the  examination  of  the  civil  and  criminal  codes  of  the  dif- 
ferenl  countries  in  order  to  select  laws  which  are  applicable  to  the 
conditions    existing   in    China.      Ex-Minister  Wu   has   taken   a   deep 


VICEROY     CHANG     CHIH     TING 


130 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


interest  in  this  subject  and  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following 
list  of  reforms  to  which  the  imperial  sanction  has  been  secured: 

1.  Ling  Chi,  slow  death  by  slicing  to  pieces,  has  been  abolished. 
It  was  the  punishment  formerly  prescribed  for  one  found  guilty  of 
paricide,  high  treason,  wilful  murder  of  husband  (the  murder  of  hus- 
band by  wife  was  according  to  Chinese  law  a  much  graver  offense  than 
the  murder  of  wife  by  husband). 

2.  The  heads  of  criminals  were  formerly  exposed  to  the  public  after 
execution.     This  has  also  been  abolished. 


WU  TING  FANG. 

3.  The  beheading  of  a  corpse  of  a  criminal  who  died  before  execu- 
tion is  no  longer  permitted. 

4.  According  to  the  old  law,  parents,  relatives  and  friends  of  one 
convicted  of  serious  crimes  wTere  subject  to  punishment;  now  the  pun- 
ishment is  confined  to  the  guilty  party.  (While  the  practice  of  includ- 
ing innocent  relatives  in  the  sentence  seems  barbarous  in  the  extreme, 
it  was,  after  all,  not  so  different  in  principle  from  the  practice  of  the 


CHINA'S  AWAKENING  131 

western  nations  which  in  times  of  war  inflict  punishment  indiscrimi- 
nately upon  innocent  and  guilty  alike.) 

5.  The  branding  of  criminals  has  been  abandoned. 

6.  Corporal  punishment  of  criminals  is  also  abolished. 

7.  The  torturing  of  accused  persons  during  trial,  except  where  the 
accused  is  charged  with  murder,  and  where  the  evidence  of  guilt  is 
clear,  has  also  been  abolished.  According  to  the  Chinese  law  a  person 
convicted  of  murder  cannot  be  put  to  death  until  he  confesses,  and  tor- 
ture has  been  retained  in  a  case  of  this  kind  as  a  means  of  compelling 
confession  when  the  guilt  has  been  otherwise  established,  but  Mr.  Wu 
expresses  the  hope  that  torture  in  such  cases  will  be  abolished  in  the 
near  future. 

The  revision  commission  has  also  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  imperial 
decree  ordering  the  construction  of  more  modern  prisons,  requiring  the 
inspection  of  prisoners  and  compelling  humane  treatment.  Formerly 
relief  from  cruel  treatment  could  only  be  secured  by  paying  the  official 
in  charge. 

The  commission  is  now  working  upe>n  a  code  of  procedure  and  in- 
tends among  other  things  the  recommendation  of  a  system  of  trial 
by  jury,  the  admission  of  lawyers  to  practice  in  the  courts  and  the 
lelieving  of  prisoners  and  witnesses  from  the  humiliating  practice  of 
kneeling  in  court. 

In  order  to  secure  competent  judges  and  lawyers  for  the  carrying 
out  of  the  new  code,  the  commission  has  obtained  the  sanction  of  the 
government  for  the  establishment  of  a  law  school  at  Pekin  (the  site  has 
already  been  purchased),  and  the  high  schools  and  colleges  of  the 
various  provinces  have  been  instructed  to  add  law  to  the  curriculum 
of  their  studies. 

Minister  Wu  called  attention  to  other  reforms  which  have  been 
introduced  into  China  within  the  last  few  years,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  construction  of  railways,  the  establishment  of  a  govern- 
ment board  of  commerce,  the  formation  of  a  police  force,  municipal 
and  provincial,  the  promulgation  of  incorporation  laws  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  mints. 

At  first  the  railroads  were  built  by  concessions  issued  to  foreign  com- 
panies, but  because  of  the  constant  difficulties  which  grew  out  of  such 
concessions,  there  is  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  government  rail- 
roads. It  wras  in  the  pursuance  of  this  policy  that  the  government 
acquired  the  rights  of  the  American  company  which  was  projecting 
a  road  from  Hankow  to  Canton.  Some  of  the  Americans  residing  in 
China  have  expressed  regret  that  this  road  should  have  passed  out  of 


132  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

American  hands,  but  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  better  for  the  United 
States  that  China  should  own  the  road  than  that  it  should  be 
in  the  hands  of  foreigners  or  even  in  the  hands  of  Americans. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  operate  the  road  without  more  or  less  friction, 
which  would  involve  the  countries  in  diplomatic  controversies.  If 
China  operates  the  road  herself,  we  will  have  equal  rights  with  for- 
eigners without  the  risks  involved  in  private  ownership.  And,  speak- 
ing of  roads,  the  city  of  Pekin  is  passing  through  an  era  of  street 
improvement.  Some  eleven  miles  of  pavement  have  been  laid  within 
three   years,    and   concrete   sidewalks   are    making   their   appearance. 

The  finances  of  China  have  been  in  a  miserable  condition.  Cash  is 
the  money  in  common  use,  and  these  brass  coins,  running  about  one 
thousand  to  the  dollar,  are  too  heavy  for  any  excepting  the  smallest 
transactions.  Think  of  doing  business  with  money  so  heavy  that  you 
must  carry  a  hundred  pounds  of  money  to  make  a  ten  dollar  purchase. 
Some  complained  of  silver  in  the  United  States  because  of  its  weight, 
but  the  silver  certificates  completely  answered  this  argument,  for  a 
silver  certificate  is  as  convenient  as  a  gold  certificate  and  more  conven- 
ient than  gold  coin;  but  in  China  paper  money  is  not  used  among  the 
masses.  The  monetary  unit  is  called  a  tael  and,  if  coined,  would 
weigh  about  one  and  one-third  times  the  Mexican  dollar,  but  no 
coins  of  this  denomination  are  in  circulation.  The  Mexican  dollar  is 
in  common  use,  and  in  some  of  the  provinces  there  are  fractional 
silver  coins.  But  the  Mexican  dollar  is  so  often  counterfeited  that  it 
is  customary  to  test  each  coin  as  it  passes  from  hand  to  hand.  I 
secured  one  of  the  "three  piece  dollars,"  as  they  are  called.  These 
are  made  by  sawing  a  thin  disc  from  each  side  of  the  dollar;  the 
silver  is  then  removed  from  the  center  and  the  cavity  filled  with  lead 
and  the  two  faces  soldered  on.  The  work  is  done  so  skillfully  that 
the  counterfeit  can  only  be  detected  by  the  ring.  Several  of  the  banks 
^ssue  paper  notes  payable  in  Mexican  dollars,  but  they  are  discounted 
in  the  various  cities  so  that  a  traveler's  currency  is  always  undergoing 
a  shave.  The  government  has  decided  to  establish  a  uniform  system 
of  currency  consisting  of  gold,  silver  and  copper,  the  silver  tael  to 
remain  the  unit. 

Patent  laws  and  trade  mark  laws  are  now  being  prepared;  in  fact, 
China  is  being  quickened  in  many  ways  by  the  increasing  knowledge 
which  she  is  acquiring.  They  are  even  considering  a  change  in  the 
alphabet  and  characters  in  order  that  the  language  may  be  more  easily 
learned. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  fact  that  China  has  until  recently 


134 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


been  practically  without  newspapers.  There  is  no  better  evidence  of 
the  progress  which  China  is  making  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  her  newspapers.  While  the  circulation  of  these 
papers  is  small  as  compared  with  the  circulation  of  similar  papers  in 
the  United  States  and  Japan,  still  the  growth  is  constant  and  the 
colloquial  dialect  sometimes  employed  brings  the  news  and  editorial 
pages  within  the  comprehension  of  those  who  cannot  read  books.  Many 
of  these  newspapers  are  published  in  the  interest  of  reforms.  One 
of  the  papers  started  at  Hong  Kong  opposed  the  examination  system 
by  which  civil  officials  were  selected,  the  foot-binding  custom  and  the 

habit  of  wearing  the  queue.  The 
editor  cut  off  his  own  queue  as 
an  example  and  is  now  encour- 
aged by  the  fact  that  the  soldiers 
are  gradually  adopting  a  like 
course-  He  is  able  to  note  progress 
in  the  matter  of  foot-binding.  An 
imperial  edict  has  been  issued  ex- 
horting the  people  to  abandon 
the  practice,  and  numerous  so- 
cieties are  engaged  in  spreading 
literature  upon  this  subject. 

But  more  important  still  is  the 
recent  abolition  of  the  examina- 
tions. This  is  a  revolution  which 
has  shaken  the  ancient  empire 
to  its  foundation,  for  the  exami- 
nation system  not  only  affected 
the  government  but  moulded  the 
educational  system  as  well.  In 
the  larger  cities  elaborate  provi- 
sions were  made  for  these  exam- 
inations in  some  places  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  stalls  being 
constructed.  These  stalls  are  about  three  feet  by  six  deep,  and  high 
enough  to  permit  the  student  to  stand  erect.  The  only  furniture  was  a 
board  for  a  seat  and  another  for  a  desk.  At  a  given  hour  the  students 
entered  these  stalls  and  were  given  their  themes;  they  were  then  kept 
in  their  stalls  without  communication  until  their  tasks  were  finished. 
.Vow  the  stalls  stand  idle  and  the  officials  are  chosen  from  the  graduates 
of  the  newly  established  schools. 

We  visited  the   examination   stalls   at  Pekin   and   found   them   in 


CHOU   FIT,    VICEROY   OF   NANKING. 


CHINA'S    AWAKENING  135 

ruins.  They  had  been  occupied  by  the  Boxers  in  1900,  who  tore  out 
the  rafters  and  used  them  for  fuel.  After  the  roofs  fell  in  the  unpro- 
tected walls  rapidly  crumbled. 

The  conservatives  have  been  very  much  incensed  by  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  examinations,  but  the  reformers  regard  it  as  a  long  step 
in  the  right  direction. 

On  every  hand  one  sees  signs  of  intellectual  development.  As 
stated  in  another  article,  the  private  school  was  for  centuries  the  only 
source  from  which  instruction  in  books  could  be  gained.  Now  a 
complete  system  of  schools  is  being  established,  consisting  of  primary, 
middle  and  high  schools,  with  colleges  in  the  larger  cities.  Viceroy 
Yuan  Shih  Kai,  who  presides  over  the  district  in  which  Pekin  is 
situated,  and  whom,  through  the  courtesy  of  Minister  Rockhill,  I  had 
an  opportunity  to  meet,  informed  me  that  he  had  established  four 
thousand  schools  within  his  jurisdiction  within  the  past  five  years. 
The  viceroy  is  the  successor  of  Li  Hung  Chang  and  is  considered  the 
most  influential  man  in  the  empire.  He  is  about  forty-six  years  old 
and  impresses  one  as  a  man  of  great  mental  ability  and  alertness.  He 
seems  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  reforms  now  being  worked  out, 
and  is  cordial  in  his  treatment  of  Americans. 

Consul  General  Rodgers,  of  Shanghai,  happened  to  be  in  Nanking 
during  our  visit  there,  and  we  paid  our  respects  to  Viceroy  Chou  Fu. 
This  viceroy  is  quite  old  and  feeble  but  he  is  grappling  with  the 
new  problems  and  is  a  patron  of  education.  He  has  established  one 
thousand  schools  during  the  last  few  years,  and  estimated  the  number 
of  Chinese  students  in  Japan  at  this  time  at  five  thousand. 

At  Shanghai  there  is  a  government  university,  the  buildings  of 
which  cost  two  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars.  "We  learned  that 
in  some  places  Buddhist  temples  are  being  converted  into  schools  and 
that  girls'  schools  are  already  being  provided  for.  This  is  even  a 
greater  evidence  of  progress  than  the  opening  of  schools  for  boys, 
because  of  the  inferior  position  which  woman  has  occupied  in  the 
celestial  empire. 

Besides  the  government  schools  there  are  numerous  missionary 
schools  in  which  instruction  is  given  to  both  boys  and  girls.  We 
visited  some  of  these  schools  at  Pekin,  Nanking  and  Shanghai,  and 
found  the  instructors  encouraged  by  the  attendance  and  the  interest 
taken.  A  numberof  Americans,  and  a  still  larger  number  of  Japanese. 
are  teaching  in  the  government  schools. 

But  enough   has  been   said   to   indicate  the  regeneration   through 


136  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

which  the  Flowery  Kingdom  is  passing.  What  will  be  the  effect  of 
the  change  upon  the  world?  Who  is  wise  enough  to  peer  into  the 
future  and  outline  the  record  of  the  next  century?  Japan  furnishes 
the  nearest  parallel.  Compare  the  Japan  of  fifty  years  ago  with  the 
Japan  of  to-day  and  some  conception  can  be  formed  of  China  fifty 
years  hence.  As  Japan's  commerce  increased,  so  is  China's  commerce 
increasing;  as  Japan  sent  statesmen  abroad  to  investigate  the  methods 
of  other  governments,  so  China  is  now  sending  inquirers  abroad;  as 
Japan  turned  her  attention  to  schools  and  colleges,  so  China  is  learn- 
ing the  advantage  of  universal  education;  as  Japanese  students  jour- 
neyed into  distant  lands  in  search  of  knowledge,  so  Chinese  students 
are  in  increasing  numbers  studying  in  foreign  colleges.  Even  in  the 
enlargement  and  training  of  her  army  she  is  patterning  after  Japan 
and  employing  Japanese  drill  masters. 

It  need  not  be  thought  strange  that  there  is  an  anti-foreign  senti- 
ment in  China.  Was  there  not  an  anti-foreign  sentiment  in  Japan 
forty  years  ago?  The  Shimonoseki  affair  was  not  unlike  the  Boxer 
trouble,  except  that  it  was  less  fatal  to  life,  but  it  exerted  a  large 
influence  in  the  overthrow  of  the  shogun  and  in  the  restoration  of 
the  emperor.  Just  as  in  Japan  the  old  finally  gave  way  to  the  new, 
and  progress  took  the  place  of  stagnation,  so  in  China  the  old  must 
give  way  to  the  new. 

Advance  is  inevitable  and  the  world  need  not  fear  the  result.  If 
China  were  strong  enough  to  give  effect  to  the  hostility  which  some 
of  her  people  now  feel,  she  might  be  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  the 
world,  but  she  cannot  grow  in  strength  faster  than  she  grows  in 
knowledge,  and  as  she  grows  in  knowledge  she  will  learn,  as  other 
nations  have  learned,  that  nations  help  rather  than  injure  each  other 
by  the  material,  intellectual  and  moral  development  of  their  people. 


A    'ANTON   BRIDGE. 


CHAPTER  XIII: 

CHINESE  EXCLUSION* 

If  every  American  could  visit  China,  the  question  of  Chinese  immi- 
gration would  soon  be  settled  upon  a  permanent  basis,  for  no  one  can 
become  acquainted  with  the  Chinese  coolie  without  recognizing  the 
impossibility  of  opening  the  doors  of  our  country  to  him  without 
injustice  to  our  own  laboring  men,  demoralization  to  our  social  ideas, 
injury  to  China's  reputation  among  us  and  danger  to  our  diplomatic 
relations  with  that  country. 

I  made  it  a  point  to  inquire  among  the  Chinese  whom  I  met,  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  real  sentiment  back  of  the  boycott.  I  had  heard 
of  students  being  subjected  to  harsh  regulations  at  ports  of  entry,  of 
travelers  humiliated  by  confinement  in  uncomfortable  sheds  and  of 
merchants  treated  rudely,  and  I  supposed  that  these  things  had 
aroused  the  resentment.  I  found,  however,  that  the  things  com- 
plained of  were  more  difficult  to  deal  with  and  the  concessions  de- 
manded impossible  to  grant. 

In  order  to  understand  the  boycott  one  must  know  something  of 
Chinese  history.  As  China  has  never  had  representative  government, 
the  people  have  been  compelled  to  bring  their  complaints  before 
officials  by  petition,  and  where  the  petition  has  been  ignored,  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  bring  such  pressure  to  bear  as  was  within 
their  power,  and  the  boycott  has  often  been  resorted  to  as  a  mean- 
of  compelling  action  upon  the  part  of  officials.  They,  therefore 
conceived  the  idea  of  a  boycott  against  American  goods  for  the  double 
purpose  of  urging  their  own  government  to  favorable  action  and  of 
calling  the  attention  of  the  American  government  to  their  complaint. 
Our  officials  are  doing  what  they  can  to  convince  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment of  the  injustice  and  folly  of  the  boycott,  and  the  Chinese 
officials  with  whom  I  conversed  seemed  anxious  to  co-operate  with 
our  minister  and  consuls.  Immediate  action  upon  the  part  of  our 
congress,  whether  favorable  or  unfavorable  to  the  Chinese,  will  remove 
the  excuse  for  a  boycott  and  our  government  should  not  be  influenced 


♦Written  for  and  published  by   Success  Magazine,  April,   1906. 

137 


138  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

in  its  action  by  any  threats  affecting  trade,  for  the  subject  is  too  grave 
a  one  to  be  determined  by  commercial  considerations. 

The  Americans  who  are  doing  business  in  China  are  naturally 
anxious  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  the  Chinese  merchants, 
and  just  before  we  reached  Hong  Kong  the  American  business  men 
residing  there  cabled  home  a  statement  of  the  minimum  changes  in 
the  exclusion  act  asked  for  by  the  Chinese  merchants.  I  had  the 
privilege  of  attending  a  dinner  at  which  a  number  of  the  leading 
Chinese  merchants  of  Hong  Kong  presented  their  views,  and  it  may 
be  worth  while  to  give  here  an  abstract  of  their  demands  as  drawn 
out  by  cross-examination. 

They  desire — First,  that  the  word  laborer  shall  be  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly defined,  "according  to  the  highest  standard  English  and  be 
limited  to  such  class  or  classes  of  persons  as  originally  intended  to  be 
designated  by  both  governments.'"' 

Second,  that  all  regulations  and  legislative  measures  affecting  Chi- 
uese  immigration  shall  be  communicated  to  and  approved  by  the 
Chinese  government  before  going  into  force,  and  that  when  in  force, 
they  should  not  be  altered  without  consent  of  the  Chinese  government. 

Third,  that  American  consuls  stationed  in  China. shall  have  full 
power  to  grant  certificates  of  admission  to  persons  not  included  in  the 
prohibited  classes,  such  certificates  to  be  conclusive  except  in  cases 
of  actual  fraud. 

Fourth,  that  the  American  consul  in  China  shall  without  delay 
issue  certificates  of  admission  to  such  Chinese  not  included  in  the 
prohibited  classes  as  shall  obtain  passports  from  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment. 

Fifth,  that  the  Chinese  government  shall  be  permitted  to  appoint 
one  European  medical  practitioner  to  act  in  conjunction  with  a  medi- 
cal officer  appointed  by  the  United  States  at  the  port  of  departure 
and  that  no  one  shall  be  rejected  as  diseased  unless  certified  to  be  so 
by  both  medical  officers. 

Sixth,  that  Chinese  once  admitted  into  the  United  States  shall  enjoy 
the  same  rights  and  protection  accorded  to  the  subjects  of  the  most 
favored  nation,  and  in  case  of  ill  treatment  shall  be  entitled  to  dam- 
ages from  the  government, 

-  venth,  that  Chinese  passing  through  the  United  State-  en  route 
for  another  country  shall  enjoy  the  same  privileges  as  the  subjects 
of  the  most   favored  nations. 

Eighth,   that   Chinese  residing  in   the  United   State-  shall  not  be 


V, 


o 


'A 


'S, 


140  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

required  to  register  unless  such  registration  is  required  of  the  subjects 
of  the  most  favored  nation. 

Ninth,  that  Chinese  laborers  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Hawaiian 
and  the  Philippine  Islands,  provided  that  the  legislatures  or  t  local 
authorities  of  such  islands  are  willing.  (While  this  proviso  is  satis- 
factory to  the  Hong  Kong  merchants,  it  seems  to  have  been  objected 
to  by  the  Chinese  of  Amoy  and  Canton.) 

Tenth,  that  any  Chinese  detained  at  an  American  port  of  entry 
for  purposes  of  inquiry  shall  be  permitted  to  engage  legal  assistance 
and  furnish  bond  for  appearance ;  should  the"  decision  be  unfavorable, 
he  shall  have  the  right  to  appeal  to  the  highest  court  of  justice,  and 
in  case  of  any  technical  or  formal  error  in  his  passport  or  certificate, 
he  shall  be  allowed  to  correct  the  same  without  undergoing  deportation. 

Eleventh,  that  any  Chinese  residing  in  the  United  States  shall  have 
the  right  to  bring  his  parents,  wife,  family  and  minor  brothers  and 
sisters  to  reside  with  him. 

Twelfth,  that  Chinese  lawfully  admitted  to  the  United  States  but 
deported  because  of  failure  to  register  shall  be  readmitted  on  satis- 
factory proof  of  possessing  in  the  United  States  property  or  bona 
fide  debt  up  to  the  required  amount. 

The  second  demand  could  not  be  complied  with,  without  putting 
the  enforcement  of  the  exclusion  act  so  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
Chinese  government  as  to  very  much  cripple  it. 

The  third  demand  is  reasonable.  Our  country  ought  to  be  bound 
by  the  act  of  its  own  consuls,  except  in  case  of  fraud,  and  those  who 
are  to  be  excluded  ought  to  be  notified  before  incurring  the  expense 
of  a  trip  across  the  ocean. 

The  fourth  demand  should  not  be  complied  with  unless  the 
Chinese  government  assumes  pecuniary  responsibility  for  any  errors 
in  the  issuing  of  the  passport  and  for  the  subject's  compliance  with 
the  regulations  provided  by  our  government. 

The  fifth  demand  is  absurd,  because  it  virtually  transfers  to  a 
European  physician  appointed  by  the  Chinese  government  the  power 
to  decide  on  the  health  of  the  immigrant.  While,  according  to  the 
language  of  the  demand,  the  Chinese  appointee  would  act  in  con- 
junction with  an  American  physician,  a  favorable  report  by  the 
Chinese  appointee  would  admit  the  immigrant  in  spite  of  an  adverse 
report  by  the  physician  appointed  by  our  government.  It  is  perfectly 
proper  that  a  physician  appointed  by  the  Chinese  government  should 
be  permitted  to  be  present  at  the  examination,  and  it  is  only  fair 
that  the  examination  should  be  made  at  the  port  of  departure,  but 


CHINESE    EXCLUSION  141 

it  is  necessary  thai  the  examination  should  be  in  the  hands  of  physi- 
cians appointed,  and  removable,  by  our  government. 

The  tenth  demand  is  for  the  most  part  reasonable.  A  Chinaman 
detained  for  purposes  of  inquiry  should  be  allowed  to  secure  counsel 
and  furnish  bond,  and  if  the  error  in  his  certificate  is  technical  or 
formal,  he  should  be  allowed  to  correct  it  on  such  term-  as  are  equitable; 
but  it  would  hardly  be  wise  to  permit  appeal  to  the  supreme  court 
unless  some  vital  principle  is  involved. 

Demands  six,  seven  and  eight  are  based  upon  the  theory  that 
Chinese  in  the  United  States  should  be  treated  in  every  respect  like 
subjects  of  other  nations,  and  this  overlooks  two  material  facts:  First, 
that  certain  classes  of  Chinese  are  prohibited  from  coming  to  the 
United  States;  and,  second,  that  the  Chinese  who  do  come  to  the 
United  States  come  for  reasons  different  from  those  which  influence 
immigrants  from  Europe.  (I  shall  consider  the  second  reason  later.) 
The  fact  that  some  Chinese  are  excluded  while  others  are 
admitted  makes  it  necessary  to  enforce  rules  against  the  Chi- 
nese that  are  necessary  against  immigrants  from  other  nations. 
While  no  humiliating  conditions  ought  to  be  imposed,  still  our 
country  is  justified  in  enforcing  such  rules  and  regulations  as  will 
prevent  fraud  and  evasion.  This  cannot  be  considered  an  act  of  un- 
friendliness because  our  nation  adopts  the  same  principle  in  dealing 
with  its  own  people.  For  instance,  the  voters  in  the  cities  are  required 
to  register  from  time  to  time,  often  at  great  inconvenience,  while 
registration  is  not  required  in  rural  districts,  the  discrimination  being 
regarded  as  necessary  to  prevent  election  frauds  in  the  cities.  In  like 
manner,  Chinese  may  be  required  to  register,  even  though  registration 
may  be  inconvenient,  if  experience  shows  registration  to  be  necessary 
to  prevent  evasion  of  the  immigration  law. 

In  the  case  of  travelers  it  ought  to  be  possible  to  provide  for  such 
a  certification  of  passports  as  to  relieve  Chinese  tourists,  whether  pass- 
ing through,  or  visiting  in,  the  United  States  from  annoyance  or 
vexation.  It  goes  without  saying  that  they  should  be  protected  as 
completely  as  tourists  coming  from  any  other  country.  Every  encour- 
agement should  be  given  to  travel  between  countries,  for  an  exchange 
of  views  and  ideas  between  nations  is  as  wholesome  and  as  necessary  to 
progress  as  social  intercourse  between  individuals. 

The  ninth  demand,  while  strenuously  insisted  upon  by  the  Chinese, 
involves  questions  of  the  first  magnitude.  It  is  a  question  whether 
Chinese  could  be  admitted  into  Hawaii  and  then  excluded  from  other 
states  and  territories,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Philippines,  our  country 


142  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

should  be  slow  to  establish  a  policy  there  before  the  length  of  our 
occupation  is  determined. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  purpose  of  the  first,  eleventh  and  twelfth 
demands  is  to  increase  the  number  of  Chinese  in  the  United  States. 
The  eleventh  contemplates  the  indefinite  enlargement  of  the  family 
of  each  resident  by  the  addition  of  first,  one  wife;  second  (possibly), 
two  parents,  not  to  speak  of  an  uncertain  number  of  children,  brothers 
and  sisters.  While  to  the  Chinese  who  are  accustomed  to  the 
patriarchal  system,  the  admission  of  parents,  brothers  and  sisters  would 
seem  a  very  natural  demand,  it  would  hardly  seem  reasonable  to 
Americans  unless  it  was  limited  to  the  classes  excepted  from  the  exclu- 
sion act. 

The  real  interest,  however,  centers  in  the  first  demand,  viz.,  that 
the  definition  of  the  term  laborer  shall  be  enlarged.  I  questioned 
several  of  the  Hong  Kong  merchants  in  regard  to  the  matter,  and 
found  that  they  desired  especially  the  admission  of  clerks  and  skilled 
laborers.  They  contended  that  a  Chinese  merchant  could  not  conduct 
a  store  in  the  LTnited  States  without  Chinese  help  and  that  to  exclude 
clerks  was  virtually  to  exclude  merchants.  When  questioned  as  to 
the  number  of  clerks  needed,  they  estimated  that  there  were  about 
four  thousand  merchants  in  the  United  States  and  that  each  merchant 
would  need  from  six  to  ten  clerks.  When  surprise  was  expressed  at 
the  number,  it  was  explained  that  some  had  to  cook  and  do  housework. 
It  was  even  argued  that  Chinese  shoemakers  and  tailors  were  also 
necessary  to  provide  clothing  and  footwear  for  the  Chinese  residing 
in  the  United  States.  There  was  a  division  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
laundry  men  should  be  classed  as  merchants  and  entitled  to  clerks. 
But  excluding  laundry  men  and  counting  eight  clerks  to  the  store, 
this  one  change  in  definition  would  open  the  door  to  about  thirty- 
two  thousand,  almost  a  fifty  per  cent  increase,  according  to  the  esti- 
mate made  by  the  Hong  Kong  merchants,  of  seventy  thousand  Chinese 
now  in  the  United  States.  Whether  the  admission  of  clerks  could  be 
so  regulated  and  restricted  as  to  make  it  possible  to  grant  this  demand 
in  whole  or  in  part  is  a  question  which  I  am  not  prepared  to  answer 
without  further  information  as  to  the  location  of  the  merchants,  the 
character  of  their  business  and  the  sentiment  of  the  local  community. 

The  admission  of  skilled  laborers  is  one  upon  which  it  is  easier 
to  form  an  opinion.  The  Chinese  are  not  only  an  industrious  people, 
but  they  are  capable  of  becoming  skilled  artisans.  They  could  supply 
every  factory  in  the  United  States  with  skilled  workmen  and  still 
have  millions  to  spare.     Nearly  all  the  reasons  which  apply  to  the 


144  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

exclusion  of  the  coolie,  apply  to  the  skilled  laborer,  and  they  can, 
therefore,  be  considered  together. 

It  developed  during  the  dinner  that  while  the  demands  expressly 
recognized  the  improbability  of  coolies  being  admitted,  most  of  the 
Chine.se  present  favored  the  entire  repeal  of  the  restriction  law.  They 
resented  any  discrimination  against  their  people  as  unfriendly  and 
unwarranted.  One  Chinaman  of  prominence,  in  another  city,  went 
so  far  as  to  intimate  that  such  discrimination  would  not  be  permitted 
if  China  had  a  large  army  and  navy  and  was  able  to  enforce  her 
rights. 

As  the  whole  question  turns  on  the  admission  of  the  Chinese  laborer, 
let  us  consider,  first,  the  difference  between  the  European  immigrant 
and  the  Chinese  immigrant  and,  second,  the  general  objections  to 
the  admission  of  Chinese  workmen. 

The  Chinaman,  unlike  the  European,  regards  America  as  only  tem- 
porarily his  home,  preserves  his  national  customs  and  peculiarities 
and  finally  returns,  carrying  his  savings  with  him.  He  is  not  attracted 
by  our  institutions  and  brings  with  him  no  love  of  American  ideals. 
To  him  the  United  States  is  a  field  to  be  exploited  and  nothing  more. 
The  European  casts  in  his  lot  with  us,  mingles  with  the  population 
and  in  a  few  generations  his  identity  is  lost  in  our  composite  race.  He 
has  neither  peculiarities  of  thought  or  dress  to  distinguish  him  from 
those  among  whom  he  labors,  and  his  children  are  soon  an  indis- 
tinguishable part  of  the  community.  Not  so  with  the  Chinese.  They 
are  not  only  distinguished  by  their  dress,  language  and  habits,  but 
they  remain  entirely  separate  and  apart  from  those  among  whom  they 
dwell.  This  difference  is  not  only  due  to  the  wide  dissimilarity  in 
history,  tradition  and  habit,  but  also  to  the  absence  of  any  permanent 
or  patriotic  interest  in  the  land  in  which  they  sojourn. 

The  plane  of  living  and  the  rate  of  wages  are  surprisingly  low  in 
China.  "When  we  were  crossing  the  Yellow  River  I  noticed  a  number 
of  coolies  unloading  stone  and  inquired  their  wages.  They  received 
one  hundred  and  fifty  cash,  or  about  seven  and  a  half  cents  gold,  per 
day.  When  this  compensation  is  compared  with  the  wages  paid  in 
the  United  States  for  the  same  kind  of  labor,  it  is  easy  to  understand 
why  Chinese  laborers  are  drawn  to  our  country.  In  discussing  the 
immigration  question  with  a  Chinese  official,  I  asked  him  what  he  paid 
his  coachman.  He  replied  that  the  head  coachman  received  what  was 
equivalent  to  $10  in  gold  per  month,  while  the  subordinates  received 
from  $3.50  to  $5.  Out  of  these  wages  they  must  pay  for  their  own 
food.     There  is  considerable  difference  in  the  efficiency  of  labor,  but 


CHINESE    EXCLUSION  L45 

making  due  allowance  for  that,  the  Chinaman  could  in  some  occupa- 
tions make  twice  as  much  in  America  as  al  home  and  yet  work  let- 
half  what  Americans  receive. 

Long  experience  has  taught  the  Chinaman  to  economize  until  he 
has  reduced  living  to  the  minimum.  Our  guide  in  one  city  fixed  $1 
(50  cents  gold)  as  the  weekly  cost  of  living  for  one  person,  but  many 
live  upon  less.  In  traveling  from  Pekin  to  Hankow  we  were  com- 
pelled to  provide  our  own  meals,  and  the  very  competent  cook  whom 
we  secured  was  regularly  receiving  $1  a  week  in  gold. 

A  ride  through  the  streets  of  a  Chinese  city  furnishes  ample  evidence 
of  the  economy  of  the  people.  The  small  measures  used,  the  tiny 
piles  of  edibles  exposed  for  sale,  the  little  bundles  carried  from  the 
market — these  explain  why  cash,  running  about  ten  to  a  cent,  can  be 
used  as  currency.  Oranges  are  often  sold  without  the  peeling,  the 
peeling  being  sold  separately,  and  peanuts  seem  to  be  counted  instead 
of  measured.  At  Canton  we  saw  one  man  trudging  home  from  market 
with  a  satisfied  air,  carrying  two  pig  tails  tied  together  with  a  piece  of 
grass.  The  well-to-do  have  many  delicacies,  like  birds'  nest  soup  and 
shark  fins,  some  of  which  we  tasted  at  the  luncheon  given  by  the  viceroy 
at  Nanking  and  at  the  Hong  Kong  dinner;  and  among  those  who  can 
afford  it,  elaborate  dinners  are  quite  common,  but  among  the  masses 
the  food  is  of  the  cheapest  and  coarsest  kind. 

In  the  matter  of  fuel  the  same  scrupulous  economy  is  exercised. 
Every  dead  leaf  and  twig  is  scraped  from  the  ground  and  even  the 
weeds  are  condemned  to  fiery  punishment  for  presuming  to  grow 
upon  such  precious  soil. 

It  would  require  generations  to  bring  our  people  down  to  a  plane 
upon  which  they  could  compete  with  the  Chinese,  and  this  would 
involve  a  large  impairment  in  the  efficiency  in  their  work. 

It  is  not  just  to  the  laboring  men  of  the  United  States  that  they 
should  be  compelled  to  labor  upon  the  basis  of  Chinese  coolie  labor 
or  stand  idle  and  allow  their  places  to  be  filled  by  an  alien  race  with 
no  thought  of  permanent  identification  with  our  country.  The 
American  laborer  not  only  produces  the  wealth  of  our  nation  in 
time  of  peace,  but  he  is  its  sure  defender  in  time  of  war.  Who  will 
say  that  his  welfare  and  the  welfare  of  his  family  shall  be  subor- 
dinated to  the  interests  of  those  who  abide  with  us  but  for  a  time, 
who,  while  with  us,  are  exempt  from  draft  or  military  burden,  and 
wan,  on  their  return,  drain  our  country  of  its  currency?  A  foreign 
landlord  system  is  almost  universally  recognized  as  a  curse  to  a  nation, 
because  the  rent  money  is  sent  out  of  the  country ;  Chinese  immigra- 


146  THE    OLD    AVOKLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

tion  on  a  In  rue  scale  would  give  us  the  evil  effects  of  foreign  land- 
lordism  in   addition   to   its  other  objectionable   features. 

When  I  pointed  out  the  fact  that  Chinese  did  not,  like  other 
immigrants,  contemplate  permanent  residence  in  the  United  States, 
a  Chinese  official  replied  that  they  would  become  citizens  if  the  law 
permitted  it,  and  to  the  objection  that  they  would  even  then  remain 
distinct  from  the  rest  of  the  people,  he  answered  by  advancing  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  amalgamation.  He  claimed  that  the  descendants 
(called  Eurasians)  of  Chinese  who  had  intermarried  with  Europeans 
were  brighter  than  the  average  children  of  either  race.  I  did  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  test  the  accuracy  of  these  conclusions,  but  it 
is  evident  that  amalgamation  has  not  been  carried  on  to  any  great 
extent  either  in  China  or  in  the  countries  to  which  the  Chinamen  have 
gone.  The  instances  of  intermarriage  are  so  rare  that  they  do  not 
affect  the  general  problem. 

The  fact  that  the  Chinese  do  now,  and  would  probably  if  admitted 
to  citizenship,  form  an  unassimilated,  if  not  an  indigestible,  element, 
separated  from  the  remainder  of  our  population  by  a  race  line,  raises  ' 
another  objection  to  their  admission  as  laborers.  They  make  good 
sen-ants,  learning  quickly  and  obeying  conscientiously.  Americans 
who  have  employed  them  testify  to  their  trustworthiness  and  indus- 
try. If  they  were  permitted  to  freely  enter  the  United  States,  it 
is  likely  that  they  would  soon  solve  the  domestic  labor  problem,  of 
which  we  hear  so  much,  for  as  cooks,  waiters  and  house  boys  they  are 
an  unqualified  success.  But  what  would  be  the  effect  upon  our 
civilization  of  such  a  stratification  of  society?  At  present  we  have 
no  racial  distinction  between  employer  and  employe  (except  that 
presented  by  the  negro  problem),  and  one  race  problem  is  enough. 
If  we  were  to  admit  Chinese  coolies,  we  would  find  it  more  and  more 
difficult  to  induce  white  people  to  enter  into  competition  with  them 
and  manual  labor  would  bear  an  odium  which  ought  not  to  be  placed 
upon  it.  We  need  to  teach  the  dignity  of  labor  and  to  lessen  the 
aversion  to  it ;  a  coolie  class  would  make  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  make  progress  in  the  work  of  cementing  our  society  into  one 
harmonious  whole.  If  American  ideals  are  to  be  realized  there  must- 
be  no  barrier  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  no  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  advancement  from  manual  labor  to  intellectual  work.  China  has 
suffered  immeasurably  because  of  the  complete  separation  of  her 
educated  classes  from  her  laborers. 

A  sentimental  argument  is  sometimes  advanced  to  the  effect  that 
we  have  no  moral  right  to  exclude  any  who  seek  to  come  among  us. 


L48  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Whether  this  argument  has  any  force  depends,  first,  on  the  purpose 
of  the  immigrant,  and  second,  upon  our  power  to  assimiliate.  If 
Ills  coming  is  purely  commercial  and  he  has  no  ambition  to  improve 
us  by  his  coming  or  to  profit  morally  and  intellectually  by  contact 
with  us,  he  cannot  demand  admission  upon  moral  or  sentimental 
ground.  And  even  if  his  paramount  reason  for  coming  were  a  desire 
to  learn  of  us,  it  would  still  be  necessary  to  consider  how  far  we 
could  go  in  helping  him  without  injury  to  ourselves.  "While  visiting 
the  sick  is  most  meritorious,  one  who  gave  all  his  time  to  such  work, 
leaving  no  time  for  sleep,  would  soon  be  a  physical  wreck;  feeding 
the  hungry  is  most  commendable,  but  one  who  gave  away  all  of  his 
substance,  reserving  nothing  for  his  own  nourishment,  could  not  long 
serve  his  fellows.  In  like  manner,  our  own  power  to  help  the  world 
by  the  absorption  of  surplus  population  has;  certain  natural  and  neces- 
sary  limitations.  We  have  a.  mission  to  fulfill  and  we  cannot  excuse 
ourselves  if  we  cripple  our  energies  in  a  mistaken  effort  to  carry  a 
burden  heavier  than  our  strength  can  support. 

Students  ought  to  be  invited  to  our  country ;  we  can  afford  to  make 
the  welcome  cordial  and  access  to  our  institutions  easy,  for  there  is 
no  better  way  of  influencing  other  countries  for  good  than  through 
their  young  men  and  young  women  who,  gathering  new  ideas  in 
America,  carry  them  back  and  apply  them  in  their  own  country. 
A  -mall  part  of  the  money  now  spent  in  building  warships  to  protect 
us  from  imaginary  foes  would,  if  spent  in  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren of  foreigners,  make  us  friends  abroad  who  would  constantly 
lessen  the  probability  of  war.  The  newspapers  have  given  currency 
to  the  report  that  our  government  contemplates  returning  to  China 
a  part  of  the  indemnity  exacted  because  of  the  Boxer  attack,  and  the 
Chinese  are  much  gratified  at  the  rumor.  It  is  coupled  with  the 
statement  that  the  return  of  the  money  would  be  conditioned  upon 
the  expenditure  of  the  money  for  education.  I  can  conceive  of  no 
greater  favor  that  our  country  can  bestow  upon  China  than  to  make 
permanent  provision  for  schools  which  will  give  the  Chinese  youth  an 
opportunity  to  acquire  the  most  modern  instruction  in  literature  and 
in  physical  and  political  science.  If  the  sum  to  be  returned  were 
divided  and  the  larger  part  given  for  the  endowment  of  a  series  of 
universities  in  China,  while  the  smaller  part  endowed  a  college  at 
Washington,  under  the  control  of  the  Chinese  embassy,  it  would  do 
more  to  extend  our  commerce,  our  ideals  and  our  prestige  than  a 
hundred  times  that  sum  expended  on  a  military  establishment  or 
a  navy. 


CHINESE    EXCLUSION  149 

There  is  one  argument  against  the  admission  of  coolie-  which  ought 
to  commend  itself  to  the  Chinese  as  well  as  to  the  Americans,  viz., 
that  the  standing  of  China  among  us  is  prejudiced  by  the  fact  that 
she  is  judged  by  her  lowest  and  most  ignorant  classes.  There  has 
always  been  an  educated  class  in  China,  and  while  the  number  be- 
longing to  it  has  been  limited  and  the  scope  of  education  narrow  as 
compared  with  the  scope  of  education  in  the  western  world,  still 
there  have  been  culture  and  refinement.  Artists  have  appeared  from 
time  to  time,  as  well  as  artisans  skilled  in  porcelain,  metal  working, 
carving,  decoration,  etc.  There  have  been  merchants  of  standing  and 
integrity  (in  fact,  integrity  is  the  rule  among  Chinese  merchants.) 
If  China  could  be  known  by  these  or  even  by  the  averaging  of  her 
superior  and  inferior  classes,  she  would  stand  higher  among  the 
nations.  But  she  is  known  now,  except  in  diplomatic  circles,  by  the 
coolies  who  are  carried  by  contractors  from  one  place  to  another  until 
local  sentiment  leads  to  their  exclusion.  And,  I  may  add,  that  it 
lias  led  to  their  exclusion  from  Australia  and  that  the  question  of 
exclusion  from  the  Transvaal  has  been  discussed  in  the  English  par- 
liament. 

This  argument  received  respectful  attention  when  presented  to  some 
of  the  prominent  Chinese,  for  they  recognize  the  injury  which  has 
been  done  to  the  nation's  reputation  by  having  the  Chinese  people 
known  by  their  worst  representatives. 

There  is  a  fourth  argument,  the  force  of  which  was  admitted  at 
the  Hong  Kong  dinner  by  the  merchants  who  had  resided  in  the 
United  States,  viz.,  that  the  admission  of  coolies  (and  it  would  apply 
to  skilled  mechanics  also)  would  involve  the  nations  in  constant  diplo- 
matic controversy  over  race  conflicts.      If  it    is   human   for  Chinese 
to  desire  to  improve  their  condition  by  immigration  to  the  United 
States,   it  is   also   human   for   American  laborers   to  resent  enforced 
idleness  when  presented  as  an  alternative  to  a  lower  scale  of  living. 
With  any  large  increase  in  the  number  of  Chinese  laborers  in  the  United 
States,  it  would  be  necessary  to  incur  the  expense  of  an  increased  army 
and  police  force  to  preserve  order,  and  even  then  it  would  be  difficult 
to  prevent  occasional  violence,  and  violence  in  the  United  States  would 
lead  to  retaliation  upon   Americans  residing  in  China.     These  race 
riots  in  our  country  and  in  China  would  not  only  strain  the  relations 
between  the  nations  but  would  nullify  our  attempt  to  create  a  favor- 
able impression  upon  Chinese  students  and  embarrass  the  work  of 
our  missionaries  in  China. 


150 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


It  is  better  to  be  frank  and  candid  with  the  Chinese  government. 
There  are  twenty  times  as  many  Chinese  in  America  as  there  are 
Americans  in  China,  and  we  give  to  China  as  much  in  trade  advan- 
tage as  we  receive  from  her,  not  to  speak  of  the  money  which  Ameri- 
cans voluntarily  contribute  to  extend  education  and  religion  in  the 
Celestial  empire.  China  has  no  reason  to  complain,  for  we  have 
been  generous  in  dealing  with  her.  We  can  still  be  not  only  just,  but 
generous,  but  it  would  be  neither  kindness  to  her  nor  fairness  to  our 
own  people  to  invite  an  immigration  of  such  a  character  as  to  menace 
our  own  producers  of  wealth,  endanger  our  social  system  and  disturb 
the  cordial  friendship  and  good  will  between  America  and  China. 


COLOSSAL    STATUE    OF    MING,    RULEK    OF    CHINA 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   PHILIPPINES -NORTHERN    ISLANDS   AND 

THEIR   PEOPLE. 

While  a  deep  interest  in  the  political  problems  tempts  me  to  deal 
at  once  with  the  policy  to  be  pursued  by  our  government 
with  respect  to  the  Filipinos,  I  am  constrained  to  proceed 
logically  and  discuss  fiivst  the  islands  and  their  people.  And  in  speak- 
ing of  the  Filipinos,  a  distinction  should  be  made  between  those  who 
inhabit  the  northern  islands  and  are  members  of  one  branch  of  the 
Christian  Church  and  those  who  inhabit  the  island  of  Mindanao  and 
the  Sulu  Archipelago — people  who  are  followers  of  Mohammed. 
While  a  considerable  number  of  Christian  Filipinos  are  to  be  found 
in  Mindanao  and  some  in  Sulu,  the  Sultans  and  Datus  have  domi- 
nated the  country.  Even  Spanish  authority  never  extended  over  the 
southern  islands  and  the  garrisons  maintained  at  the  seaports  were 
constantly  in  fear  of  massacre. 

Leaving  the  southern  islands  for  the  next  article,  I  shall  confine 
myself  at  present  to  Luzon,  Panay,  Negros,  Cebu,  Samar  and  the 
smaller  islands  which  make  up  the  Visayan  group.  These  islands 
contain  the  bulk  of  the  territory,  a  large  majority  of  the  people, 
most  of  the  material  wealth  and  practically  all  of  the  civilization  of 
the  Philippines.  Luzon,,  the  largest  of  the  entire  group,  reaches  north 
almost  to  the  nineteenth  parallel  and  is  about  six  degrees  long.  Like 
the  islands  of  Japan,  it  is  mountainous  and  well  watered.  The  other 
islands  of  the  group  are  considerably  smaller  and  extend  as  far  south 
as  the  ninth  parallel.  They,  too,  are  mountainous,  but  the  valleys 
are  fertile  and  support  a  large  population.  The  principal  industry 
is  agriculture,  and  the  soil  produces  a  variety  of  cereals,  fruits  and 
vegetables.  Rice,  as  in  other  oriental  countries,  is  the  chief  article 
of  food,  though  hemp  is  by  far  the  largest  export.  The  hemp  plant 
looks  so  'much  like  the  banana  that  the  traveler  can  scarcely  dis- 
tinguish between  them.    Sugar  cane  is  also  grown  in  many  parts  of 

151 


152 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


the  islands  and  would  be  cultivated  still  more  largely  but  for  the  low 
price  of  raw  sugar.  Sugar,  however,  cannot  be  raised  here  with  the 
same  profit  that  it  can  in  Hawaii  and  Cuba,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it 
must  be  replanted  more  frequently.  Tobacco  of  an  excellent  quality 
is  produced  on  several  of  the  islands  and  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
supply  the  home  demand  (and  nearly  all  Filipinos  use  tobacco)  and 
leave  a  surplus  for  export. 

The  cocoanut  is  a  staple  product  here  of  great  value,  and  its  culti- 
vation can  be  indefinitely  extended.  Of  all  the  crops  it  probably 
yields  the  largest  income  on  the  investment,  but  as  the  trees  do  not 
begin  to  bear  until  they  are  about  eight  years  old,  they  are  only 
cultivated   in   small  groves   or  by  those  who  can   afford  to   wait  for 


A    FILIPINO    VILLAGE. 


returns.  Copra,  the  dried  meat  of  the  cocoanut,  is  now  exported  to 
the  value  of  two  and  a  half  million  dollars,  but  systematic  effort 
ought  to  very  largely  increase  this  export. 

The  methods  of  cultivation  and  the  implements  used  are  not  as 
modern  as  one  would  expect.  The  carabao,  or  water  buffalo,  is  the 
one  all-purpose  farm  animal.  Carabaos  are  something  like  the  Ameri- 
can ox,  but  are  more  heavily  built ;  they  are  uniform  in  color — a  dark 
drab — and  have  heavy,  flat  horns  which  grow  back  instead  of  for- 
ward. 

The  agricultural  situation  in  the  islands  is  at  present  most  distress- 
ing. The  fields  were  devastated  by  war,  and  before  labor  could  restore 
what  the  soldiers  lpul  destroyed,  rinderpest  attacked  the  carabaos  and 


THE    I'll  IIJ  I'M  NES 


153 


in  some  places  carried  away  as  many  as  90  per  cent  of  the  animals. 
We  visited  a  sugar  plantation  which  had  lost  more  than  half  of  its 
carabaos  during  the  two  weeks  preceding.  Everywhere  one  sees  fields 
overgrown  with  grass  which  cannot  be  cultivated  for  lack  of  plow 
animals.  One  can  understand  something  of  the  rinderpesl  calamity 
when  it  is  remembered  thai  these  patient  beasts  do  all  the  plowing 
and  all  of  the  hauling  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  We  often  see  them 
ridden,  sometimes  bearing  two  persons.  In  addition  to  the  ravages  of 
disea.se  and  the  ruin  wrought  by  arms,  the  Filipino  farmer  has  suffered 
from  the  closing  of  his  market.  When  United  State.-  authority  was 
substituted  for  Spanish  rule,  the  Filipinos  losl  the  advantage  which 
they  had  previously  had  in  the  Spanish  market,  and  then  they  were 
shut  out  of  the  United  States  by 'a  tariff  wall.  And  to  make  matters 
worse,  they  now  bear  the  brunt  of  the  Chinese  boycott  aimed  at  Ameri- 
can goods.     Every  speaker  who  has  attempted  to  voice  the  sentiments 


FILIPINO    HOUSES 


of  the  people  during  our  stay  in  the  islands  has  laid  special  emphasis 
upon  the  injustice  done  to  the  islands  by  our  tariff  laws.  This  subject 
was  also  brought- to  the  attention  of  Secretary  Taft  and  his  party,  and 
all  of  the  American  officials  here  urge  the  importance  of  relief  in  this 
direction. 

The  well-to-do  Filipinos  live  in  houses  modeled  after  those  built  by 
the  Spaniards,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  people  live  in  what  are 
called  nipa  huts — light  structures  made  with  bamboo  frames  and  with 
sides  and  roofs  of  nipa  palm  leaves.  The  houses  are  several  feet  above 
the  ground  and  are  reached  by  a  ladder  or  steps.  As  the  temperature 
at  midday  docs  not  change  much  the  year  round,  the  main  objects 
in  building  are  to  secure  protection  from  rain  and  an  abundance  of 
air,  and  the  nipa  hut  meets  these  requirements.  The  Filipino  house 
is  not  only  light  and  airy,  but  it  is  inexpensive;  we  saw  a  school  house 
at  Santa  Barbara  built  for  five  hundred  pupils  at  an  expense  of  five 


154 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


hundred  pesos,   or  $250  in  gold.     At  some  of  the  military  camps, 
which  we  visited,  the  Filipino  style  of  building  has  been  adopted. 

The  Filipino  dress  is  quite  like  that  worn  in  Europe  and  America ; 
among  the  educated  men  it  is  identical.     The  men  of  the  middle  class 


GENERAL  EM  ILK)   AGUINALDO. 


wear  a  shirt  of  a  gauzy  material  outside  the  trousers.  The  women 
wear  a  dress  skirt  with  a  long  narrow  train  and  a  low-necked,  wide- 
sleeved  waist  mad(  of  jusi  (pronounced  hoose),  or  pina  (penya) 
cloth.     A  kerchief  of  the  same  material  folded  about  the  neck  com- 


THE    PHILIPPINES 


155 


pletes  the  toilet.  All  the  thin  fabrics  worn  by  the  women  are  manu- 
factured on  hand  looms  kept  in  the  homes. 

Iloilo  is  the  center  of  the  jusi  cloth  manufacture,  of  which  we  saw 
many  beautiful  samples  during  our  tour  of  the  islands.  The  pina 
cloth  is  made  from  the  fibre  of  a  leaf  resembling  thai  of  the  pineapple. 
In  the  province  of  Balacan  a  fine  quality  of  silk  is  made  on  hand- 
looms — the  weaving  of  fabrics  being  an  accomplishment  in  which  the 
women  take  pride.  There  is  a  coarser  cloth  made  of  hemp  which  is 
used  for  ordinary  wear,  and  this  is  also  produced  in  the  home  and  -old 
on  market  days. 

Such  conflicting  reports  have  reached  the  United  States  regarding 


FILIPINO    BOYS    WITH    BLOW-GUNS. 

the  Filipino  people  that  I  was  anxious  to  study  them  for  myself,  and 
I  feel  that  I  am  prepared  to  form  an  intelligent  opinion  upon  the 
subject.  I  have  seen  representatives  of  all  occupations  in  all  parts  of 
the  islands,  in  the*  cities  and  in  the  country.  I  have  conversed  with 
students  and  professional  men,  visited  the  markets  where  the  rank  and 
file  meet  and  exchange  their  products,  watched  the  farmer-  at  work  in 
the  fields  and  the  laborers  in  the  city,  and  I  have  made  inquiries  of 
both  Americans  and  natives.  The  Filipinos  are  a  branch  of  the  Malay 
race,  but  there  is  such  a  strong  resemblance  between  some  of  the  individ- 
ual Filipinos  and  the  Japanese  as  to  suggest  the  possibility  of  a  mixing 


156 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


of  bloods,  if  not  a  common  origin.  At  Hong  Kong  I  visited  a  Filipino 
of  prominence,  and  the  young  lady  who  admitted  me  so  resembled  the 
Japanese  that  I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  she  was  the  daughter  of 
my  host.  A  few  hours  later  I  noticed  a  young  man  attending  to  some 
business  in  a  shipping  office  and  supposed  him  to  be  a  Japanese,  but 
found  that  he  also  was  a.  full  blooded  Filipino.  The  Filipinos  are  a 
little  darker  than  the  Japanese  and  may  average  a  little  taller,  but  I 
have  constantly  been  reminded  of  the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun  during 
my  stay  here. 

It  is  frequently  said  in  disparagement  of  the  Filipinos  that  they  will 
not  work,  but  this  is  answered  conclusively  by  a  patent  and  ever  present 


GROUP    OF    FILIPINOS. 


fact,  viz.,  that  they  produce  their  own  food,  make  their  own  clothes, 
build  their  own  homes  and  in  other  ways  supply  their  needs.  They 
have  not  the  physical  strength  of  the  average  American,  nor  have  they 
the  experience  in  machine  labor  or  in  the  organization  of  work,  but 
they  will  do  more  physical  labor  than  a  white  man  can  perform  in  this 
el i mate  and  they  have  shown  themselves  capable  of  doing  the  finer 
kind-  of  work  when  instructed.  They  are  also  capable  of  successful 
co-operative  effort  when  under  efficient  guidance.  One  of  the  commis- 
sion informed  me  that  the  street  car  system  lately  inaugurated  in 
Manila  was  put  in  at  a  labor  cost  of  40  per  cent  below  the  estimate, 
the  work  being  done  by  Filipino  laborers  under  an  American  con- 


-3 
*3 
i— i 

W 

CO 


158  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

tractor.  This  is  certainly  an  excellent  showing.  The  operating  force 
-  composed  of  Filipinos  and  the  cars  are  run  very  successfully. 

The  superintendent  of  the  railroad  from  Manila  to  Dagupan,  an 
Englishman,  speaks  very  highly  of  the  Filipinos  employed  on  the 
road.  He  says  that  he  uses  natives  entirely  for  the  train  service  and 
that  he  has  not  had  an  accident  on  the  road  during  the  thirteen 
years   of   it<  operation. 

A  large  company  of  men  were  unloading  stone  and  gravel  from 
barges  near  our  hotel,  and  they  were  as  industrious  and  as  cheerful 
a  lot  of  workmen  as  one  could  wish  to  see.  They  carried  the  material 
in  baskets  and  accomplished  more,  so  far  as  I  could  judge,  than  the 
coolies  whom  I  saw  at  similar  work  in  China.  The  Filipino  demands 
better  treatment  than  that  accorded  to  the  coolie,  but  when  employed 
by  those  who  understand  him  and  show  him  proper  consideration, 
he  is  both  competent  and  faithful. 

In  the  government  printing  office  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  em- 
ployes are  natives  (and  the  proportion  is  increasing),  and  Mr.  Leach, 
the  public  printer,  informed  me  that  they  readily  learned  the  work 
and  were  able  to  run  the  typesetting  machines  and  presses,  do  the 
bookbinding  and  stereotyping  and  other  skilled  work  connected 
with  the  office.  The  newspaper  offices  of  the  city  also  employ  native 
labor,  and  I  need  not  remind  my  readers  that  the  members  of  the 
various  typographical  unions  of  the  United  States  are  among  the 
mosl  intelligent  of  our  skilled  laborers.  We  visited  the  largest  tobacco 
factory  in  Manila,  the  Germinal,  and  found  between  twelve  and 
fifteen  hundred  men  and  women  making  cigars  and  cigarettes  by 
hand  and  by  machine.  There  are  several  smaller  factories,  and  all 
are  operated  by  native  labor. 

One  of  the  leading  furniture  manufacturers  of  Manila  is  authority 
for  the  statement  that  in  wood  carving  the  Filipino  soon  becomes 
the  equal  of  the  Japanese  artisan.  The  Philippine  Islands  are  so 
near  the  Equator  that  the  heat  of  the  sun  in  the  middle  of  the  day 
and  during  the  almost  twelve  months  of  summer  must  be  taken  into 
consideration.  When  due  allowance  is  made  for  climatic  conditions 
and  for  the  fact  that  the  inhabitant  of  the  tropics  lacks  the  spur  of 
necessity  which  ever  urges  on  the  dweller  in  higher  latitudes,  one  is 
inclined  to  excuse  any  seeming  lack  of  industry.  Sure  it  is  that 
those  who  come  here  from  America  and  Europe  do  not  as  a  rule  do 
enough  manual  labor  to  enable  a  comparison  between  them  and  the 
nativ<  - 

Besides  those  who  work  in  the  fields,  on  the  streets  and  in  the 
factories,  there  is  an  army  of  fishermen  and  boatmen.     Fish  forms 


THE    PHILIPPINES 


159 


THE  ACCOMPLISHED  WIFE  OF  A 
FILIPINO  OFFICIAL. 


a  considerable  pari  of  the  food  supply  of  the  island,  and  these  arc 
broughl  from  the  ocean,  from  the  rivers  and  from  the  lakes  by  a 
hardy  and  active  people.     Much  of  the  commerce  is  carried  by  water, 

and  the  boats  are  manned  by  natives.  Except  where  the  Chinese 
have  monopolized  the  mercantile  business,  the  .-tores  are  kept  by 
Filipinos,  men  and  women  sharing  the  labor  as  they  do  in  France. 

And  speaking  of  the 
women,  it  must  be  re- 
membered thai  woman 
occupies  a  much  higher 
place  in  the  Philippines 
than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  Orient.  The  Fil- 
ipino- contend  thai  even 
before  Spanish  influ- 
ence made  itself  felt  in 
the  islands,  woman  was 
accorded  an  equal  place 
with  man  and  divided 
with  him  both  the 
honors  and  the  respon- 
sibilities of  the  home. 
However  this  may  be, 
it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  at  present  the 
rights  of  woman  and 
her  position  in  the  fam- 
ily and  in  society  are 
respected  fully  as  much 
as  in  continental 
Europe.  Her  influence 
is  felt  in  industrial  and 
political  life  as  well  as 
in  the  church.  At  one  reception  a  lady  law  student  delivered  an  excel- 
lent address. 

Under  Spanish  rule  education  was  confined  to  a  few.  In  fact,  one 
of  the  indictments  brought  against  the' Friars  by  the  natives  was  that 
educational  facilities  were  denied  to  the  masses.  This,  too,  brought 
the  Jesuits,  the  friends  of  education,  into  conflict  with  the  Friars. 
But  comparatively  few  of  the  people  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  higher 


Kin  THE    OLD    WORLD    AXD    ITS    WAYS 

education,  and  these  were  a  controlling  influence  in  their  respective 
communities.  As  in  Mexico  and  in  Cuba,  the  cultured  men  and 
women  of  the  Philippines  are  thoroughly  refined  and  polished  in 
manner. 

The  American  government,  has  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  men 
competent  to  fill  the  offices  which  have  been  assigned  to  the  natives, 
three  of  the  seven  members  of  the  commission  and  three  of  the  seven 
supreme  court  judges  being  Filipinos.  The  governors  and  mayors  are 
nearly  all  Filipinos,  as  are  most  of  the  judges  of  the  lower  courts. 
A-  there  is  no  satisfactory  service  by  private  boats,  the  commission 
furnished  us  a  coastguard  steamer  for  a  tour  of  the  islands,  the 
passengers  paying  the  cost  of  subsistence,  and  we  were  thus  enabled 
to  visit  the  principal  cities.  At  all  of  these  places  we  found  a  group 
of  intellectual  and  public  spirited  men.  At  Iloilo,  Bacolod,  Cebu 
and  Santa  Barbara  there  were  addresses  of  welcome  and  public  recep- 
tions, and  the  views  of  the  residents  were  presented  in  clear  and  well 
chosen  language.  At  Malolos,  the  first  capital  of  the  Aguinaldo  gov- 
ernment, which  we  visited  as  the  guest  of  a  committee  of  prominent 
Filipinos,  similar  speeches  were  delivered,  which  met  with  the  approval 
of  the  assembled  crowd.  At  Manila  a  public  dinner  was  given  by  a 
number  of  representative  Filipinos,  headed  by  Mayor  Roxas,  at  which 
speeches  were  made  by  Filipinos  distinguished  in  official  and  pro- 
fessional life.  The  addresses  delivered  on  these  several  occasions 
would  compare  favorably  with  speeches  delivered  under  similar 
circumstances  in  the  Lnited  States.  "While  some  of  the  persons  who 
took  part  in  these  meetings  showed  traces  of  Spanish  blood,  others 
were  unmistakably  Filipino,  but  the  racial  differences  could  not  be 
distinguished  by  the  manner  in  which  they  performed  their  parts. 

While  at  Manila  I  met  General  Aguinaldo,  first  at  the  reception 
tendered  us  by  the  Elks,  and  later  at  his  own  home  in  Cavite.  Since 
his  capture  he  has  been  living  in  retirement  and  has  conducted  him- 
self in  such  a  manner  as  to  win  the  approbation  of  the  American  of- 
ficials. He  is  small  of  stature,  modest  in  deportment  and  manifests 
a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  people.  He  has  twice  appealed 
to  the  government  to  establish  an  agricultural  bank  for  the  relief  of  the 
farmers,  calling  attention  to  the  scarcity  of  money  and  to  the  high 
rate  of  interest  (sometimes  40  or  50  per  cent)  charged  the  farmers  on 
short  loans.  The  agricultural  bank  was  referred  to  by  several  speak- 
er- during  our  stay  in  the  islands,  and  it  is  certain  that,  from  an  in- 
dustrial standpoint,  the  government  could  do  nothing  which  would 
be  more  beneficial  or  acceptable  to  the  people. 


THE    PHILIPPINES 


161 


Dr.  Apacible,  the  head  of  the  Hong  Kong  junta  during  the  insur- 
rection, now  a  practicing  physician  in  Manila,  was  selected  by  the 
Filipino  reception  committee  to  accompany  us  on  our  trip,  and  being 
personally  acquainted  with  the  leaders  of  thought,  he  was  able  to 
bring  us  into  contact  with  those  who  reflected  the  opinion  of  the  peo- 
ple, while  Captain  Moss,  of  General  Corbin's  personal  staff,  and  Col- 
lector Shuster,  representing  the  insular  government,  kept  us  in  touch 
with  the  Americans  in  military  and  civil  life.  We  found  every- 
where commendation  of  the  educational  system  established  by  the 
Americans.      It   is   the   one   department   of   work   instituted   by   our 


FILIPINO   NIGHT   SCHOOL AMERICAN   TEACHERS 

government  which  seems  to  have  avoided  serious  criticism.  I  pre- 
sented this  universal  commendation  as  evidence  of  the  good  inten- 
tions of  our  people,  pointing  out  to  the  Filipinos  that  people  are  apt 
to  assert  their  rights  in  proportion  as  they  increase  in  intelligence, 
and  that  our  people  would  not  be  foolish  enough  to  encourage  edu- 
cation if  they  really  intended  to  do  injustice  to  the  Filipinos. 

The  large  increase  in  the  number  of  students  and  the  interest  taken 
in  the  establishment  of  schools  must  be  taken  into  consideration  by 
anyone  who  attempts  to  forecast  the  future  of  the  islands.  In  mail} 
communities  there  are  more  people  speaking  English  to-day  than  could 


162  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND     ITS    WAYS 

ever  speak  Spanish,  and  the  multitude  of  dialects  will  soon  be  dissolved 

into  a  common  language.  One  superintendent  of  schools  told  me  that 
in  his  district  the  attendance  was  more  than  50  per  cent  above  the 
school  population,  owing  to  the  fact  that  grown  men,  and  women  with 
children,  insisted  upon  studying.  Another  superintendent  reported 
that  she  could  not  find  teachers  for  all  the  villages  which  offered  to 
erect  school  houses.  An  incident  was  related  by  still  another  teacher 
which  illustrates  the  ambition  of  the  Filipino  youth.  A  Filipino  boy, 
who  was  working  in  the  home  of  an  English  woman  notified  his  mis- 
tress thai  he  wanted  to  go  to  school.  Being  anxious  to  keep  him, 
she  offered  to  raise  his  wages  from  twenty  pesos  per  month  to  forty, 
but  he  rejected  the  offer,  saying  that  he  loved  wisdom  more  than  he 
loved  money. 

Besides  the  public  schools,  primary,  secondary,  industrial  and  nor- 
mal, there  are  a  number  of  religious  schools.  The  Jesuits  had  their 
schools  and  colleges  under  Spanish  occupation,  one  of  the  boys' 
schools  which  we  visited  at  Cebu  being  older  than  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. The  Catholic  sisters  also  have  numerous  girls'  schools  through- 
out the  islands.  At  Manila  the  Jesuits  have  an  observatory  and  weather 
bureau  which,  for  equipment  and  scientific  accuracy,  probably  has  no 
superior  anywhere. 

The  Protestant  churches  are  also  establishing  schools,  some  of  them 
industrial.  Who  will  measure  the  effect  upon  coming  generations  of 
these  multiplying  agencies  for  the  training  of  the  boys  and  girls  of 
the  Philippines? 

The  northern  islands  are  inhabited  by  a  Christian  population. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  governmental  methods  of  Spain  or  of 
the  political  corruption  of  her  colonial  representatives,  she  established 
the  Christian  faith  in  the  islands.  Prior  to  American  occupation  the 
higher  officials  of  the  church  and  many  of  the  priests  were  Spanish, 
but  since  1900  American  and  Filipino  bishops  and  priests  are  being 
substituted.  Under  the  lead  of  Archbishop  Harty  the  work  of  the 
church  is  being  vigorously  pushed  and  a  large  number  of  baptisms 
are  reported.  Several  of  the  Protestant  churches  are  gaining  a  foot- 
hold, there  being  upwards  of  ten  thousand  Filipinos  enrolled  in  the 
evangelical  churches.  The  Presbyterian  church  of  the  Tondo  dis- 
trict. Manila,  has  something  like  four  hundred  natives,  Sehor  Buenca- 
u lino,  secretary  of  state  under  Aguinaldo,  and  afterwards  a  member 
of  the  civil  service  commission,  being  president  of  the  Tondo  con- 
gregation. 

No  discussion  of  the  religious  situation  in  the  Philippines  would  be 


THE    PHILIPPINES  163 

complete  without  a  reference  to  the  independent  Catholic  church  of 
which  Senor  Gregoria  Agilpay  is  the  head.     Obispo  Maximo  Aglipay 

is  a  native  Filipino,  46  years  old,  with  an  intelligent  face  and  fine 
presence.  In  three  and  a  half  years  he  has  established  a  church  with 
some  three  hundred  priests  and  about  seven  hundred  congregations. 
Ho  claims  a  membership  of  about  four  million,  but  the  elergy  of  the 
regular  Catholic  church  do  not  concede  nearly  so  large  a  following. 
In  fact,  they  deny  that  he  has  made  any  considerable  impression  upon 
the  Catholic  population,  and  as  there  is  no  accurate  church  census, 
it  is  impossible  to  say  in  what,  proportion  the  Catholic  membership  is 
divided  between  these  two  church  organizations. 

As  to  the  honesty  of  the  average  Filipino,  different  opinions  are 
to  be  heard  from  Americans,  but  we  arc  told  that  less  care  is  taken  to 
lock  the  doors  than  in  America,  which  would  indicate  less  fear  of 
burglary.  The  Philippine  court  records  would  embarrass  us  if  we 
became  too  harsh  in  our  reflections  niton  the  integrity  of  the  Filipino, 
for  during  the  years  1902-3-4-5  thirty  office-holding  Americans  were 
found  guilty  of  shortages  and  defalcations,  the  total  amount  embez- 
zled exceeding  seventy  thousand  dollars,  gold.  Bilibid  prison  at  Ma- 
nila is  the  penitentiary  for  the  northern  islands  and  most  (I  think  all) 
who  receive  more  than  a  jail  sentence  are  confined  here.  There  are 
now  about  forty-six  hundred  prisoners  in  Bilibid,  nearly  eleven  hun- 
dred serving  terms  for  brigandage,  insurrection,  rebellion  and  sedition 
— the  remainder  for  other  crimes.  If  the  convicts  average  a  year's 
sentence  each,  the  number  of  natives  sent  to  the  penitentiary  during 
four  years  would  have  to  be  about  twenty-five  thousand,  to  give  the 
native  population  a  criminal  class  equal  to  the  proportion  which  the 
thirty  convicted  Americans  bear  to  the  entire  American  population 
in  the  islands,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  defalcations  have 
been  among  Americans  selected  because  of  their  supposed  character 
and  capacity.  There  have  been  many  defalcations  among  the  fiscal 
officers  appointed  among  the  natives,  but  not  knowing  the  total  num- 
ber of  the  Filipinos  occupying  fiduciary  positions  and  the  number  of 
Americans  occupying  similar  positions,  I  can  not  make  a  comparison. 
Our  chief  consolation  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Americans  guilty 
of  dishonesty  have  been  promptly  punished  by  the  American  officials, 
but  this  does  not  entirely  remove  the  stain  which  their  conduct  has 
brought  upon  our  nation's  good  name. 

I  can  not  conclude  this  article  without  expressing  my  appreciation 
of  the  courtesy  shown  me  by  Acting  Governor  Ide,  Secretary  Furguson, 
the  members  of  the  Philippine  commission  and  the  other  officials,  civil 


164  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

and  military.  They  were  all  willing  to  furnish  information,  record* 
and  statistics  regarding  the  things  done  under  American  authority. 
While  mistakes  have  been  made,  some  of  them  expensive ;  while  there 
have  been  outrages  by  the  constabulary  (which  is  merely  a  native  army 
officered  by  Americans  and  serving  under  another  name)  and  while 
there  have  been  instances  of  seeming  partiality  to  Americans  where 
a  conflict  has  occurred  between  them  and  natives,  I  believe  that  the 
serious  evils  to  be  complained  of  are  not  personal,  but  are  inherent  in 
a  colonial  system  and  can  not  be  eradicated  so  long  as  such  a  system 
is  maintained. 

The  greatest  need  that  I  noted  in  the  islands  is  an  increase  in  what 
we  call  the  middle  class,  but  this  need  is  noticeable  in  the  other  Span- 
ish colonies  which  I  have  visited  and  will  be  corrected  as  education 
increases  among  the  masses.  With  more  education  among  the  farmers 
there  will  be  improved  methods  of  agriculture,  and  with  more  education 
among  the  artisans  will  come  diversification  of  industry.  This  middle 
class  will  be  a  balance  wheel,  as  it  were,  to  regulate  the  machinery  of 
society,  and  it  will  furnish  a  public  opinion  which  will  control  official 
representatives. 

The  folloiving  extracts  concerning  Mr.  Bryan's  visit   are   taken 

from  Filipino  papers: 

December  27,  El  Kenacimiento,  said  editorially: 

"Bryan.  This  is  a  name  among  names.  Others  may  boast  of  it  but 
in  their  cases  it  does  not  mean  so  much.  The  daily  press  to-day  fills 
column  after  column  regarding  him  and  his  name  is  in  the  mouths  of 
everyone.  The  events  of  yesterday  claim  special  notice,  consisting,  as 
they  do,  of  more  than  mere  generalities. 

"Why  do  these  simple  people  salute  us?  Do  they  treat  the  Ameri- 
cans here  this  way?  These  are  questions  which  were  asked  of  his  com- 
panions during  the  trip  through  Paranaque,  Las  Pinas  and  Bacoor 
ye-terday. 

"  'The  salutations  are  for  you/  replied  a  prominent  Filipino,  'be- 
cause they  know  that  it  is  you  who  is  approaching.  These  people  do 
not  know  you,  but  they  have  learned  that  you  are  here  and  your  name 
is  revered  by  them.' 

"In  fact  few  names  of  Americans  can  be  mentioned  among  Filipinos 
which  will  excite  more  feeling.  Bryan  did  not  need  to  come  here  in 
order  to  be  popular. 

"The  principal  impression  produced  by  his  presence,  even  upon  his 
adversaries  in  politics,  is  his  consummate  amiability  and  discretion. 


THE    PHILIPPINES 


165 


Bryan  has  made  no  statements  or  passed  any  judgment  regarding  the 
Philippine  administration.  He  has  not  given  any  excuse  for  his 
being  characterized  as  an  agitator  or  a  scoffer  at  the  enterprise  which 
the  United  States,  as  a  nation,  has  undertaken  in  these  islands. 

"But  does  this  signify  that  Bryan  will  abstain  from  collecting  data 
for  future  use?     We  believe  not.     One  can  easily  hope  for  a  highly 

optimistic  opinion  from  him, 
but  a  party  man  takes  his 
ideas  and  prejudices  with 
him  wherever  he  goes  and  he 
sees  things  through  the  light 
of  his  convictions." 

One  Manila  paper  prints 
the  following: 

The  Elks  gave  a  rousing 
reception  last  night  to  Wil- 
liam Jennings  Bryan  at  the 
club  house  on  the  Luneta. 
and  all  of  Manila,  turned  out 
to  do  homage  to  their  dis- 
tinguished guest.  The  club 
rooms  wen;  artistically  ar- 
ranged with  tlags  and  potted 
plants  and  the  spacious  halls 
were  the  scene  of  many 
groups  of  well-known  faces. 

Punch  and  lemonade  were 
served  during  the  evening 
and  the  music  was  furnished 
by  the  constabulary  band. 

The   guests   were   received 
by   Colonel   Dorrington   and 
Mrs.    Dorrington,    Governor 
Ide  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan,  and  were  ushered  by  Messrs.  Reiser,  Pat- 
stone,  Steward  and  Fisher. 

There  was  considerable  stir  when  Emilio  Aguinaldo  entered  the 
hall  and  was  ushered  up  to  the  receiving  party.  He  was  introduced 
to  Mr.  Bryan  by  Governor  Ide.  Aguinaldo  said  in  Spanish,  "I  am 
glad  to  meet  you ;  I  have  been  very  anxious  to  see  you.  I  have  heard 
a  great  deal  of  you."  This  was  interpreted  to  Mr.  Bryan  who  said. 
"We  have  heard  vour  name  in  our  country  also."     Then  Mr.  Bryan 


A  FILIPINO  BELLE. 


166  THE    OLD    WOULD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

said,  taking  hold  of  Aguinaldo's  arm  and  turning  to  Mrs.  Bryan,  "This 
is  Aguinaldo." 

At  a  meeting  of  prominent  native  citizens  held  in  the  office  of  the 
president  of  the  municipal  board  and  presided  over  by  that  official,  the 
following  program  for  entertaining  Mr.  Bryan  was  decided  upon : 

A  public  banquet  at  one  of  the  hotels  of  Manila. 

An  evening  entertainment  at  the  Liceo  de  Manila,  at  4  o'clock  p.  m., 
on  January  6,  with  the  following  program: 

1.  Parade  of  the  students. 

2.  Address  of  welcome  to  the  Honorable  William  Jennings  Bryan. 

3.  Band. 

4.  Speech  by  Mr.  Bryan. 

5.  Theatrical  performance  by  the  students  of  the  college. 

The  Manila  Times  of  January  1  gave  an  account  of  the  popular 
banquet  given  to  Mr.  Bryan  in  the  Luzon  restaurant.  From  this  report 
the  following  extracts  are  taken : 

At  the  popular  banquet  held  in  honor  of  William  Jennings  Bryan 
last  Friday  night  in  the  Luzon  restaurant,  the  distinguished  guest 
showed  the  same  caution  as  at  Malolos  in  dealing  with  the  questions  of 
policy  affecting  these  islands,  never  at  any  time  doing  more  than 
skirting  issues  which  if  not  dead  are  generally  quiescent. 

About  150  guests  sat  down  at  the  tables,  though  when  the  speaking 
began  there  were  probably  close  on  300  persons  present,  most  of  the 
new  arrivals  being  young  Filipinos  of  the  class  which  made  itself 
prominent  in  the  "Independence  Day"  held  recently  before  the  visit- 
ing congressmen  in  Marble  hall. 

The  program,  which  was  somewhat  artistically  designed,  had  on  its 
first  page  the  Stars  and  Stripes;  inside,  the  picture  of  Mr.  Bryan  and 
the  menus  and  names  of  the  committee  of  organization,  and  on  the  last 
page  the  Katipunan  emblem  of  the  rising  sun  and  the  three  stars.  Dur- 
ing the  evening  the  Rizal  orchestra  discoursed  music  at  intervals. 

'  nii«  rally,  the  speaking  was  too  long;  Judge  Yusay.  who  occupied  a 
place  on  the  program,  consuming  ah  hour  in  a  speech  which  finally 
tired  its  hearers.  Mr.  Bryan,  the  last  orator,  did  not  close  his  remarks 
till  half-past  one. 

In  his  own  speech  he  took  occasion  to  say  that  he  did  not  feel  at 
liberty  to  speak  freely  as  he  would  in  the  United  States.  Two  or  three 
times  when  his  remarks  were  leading  to  a  climax  whose  logical  sequel 
appeared  to  be  some  reference  to  independence,  his  audience  waited  al- 
most breathlessly,  but  he  carefully  evaded  the  seemingly  logical  de- 
nouement and  ended  in  some  relevant  but  not  thrilling  expression,  one 


168  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

could  sense  rather  than  hear  the  sigh,  in  some  cases  of  relief,  in  others 
of  disappointment,  which  followed. 

His  address  dwelt  chiefly  on  two  thoughts,  the  first  being  that  there 
is  a  tie  which  binds  all  mankind  together,  that  tie  being  knit  up  with 
the  human  heart,  and  the  second  being  what  constitutes  civilization 
and  how  it  may  be  attained. 

The  following  report  is  taken  from  the  Manila  Times  of  December 
28: 

"Indej^endence  the  Soonest  Possible." 

"Malolos  Obliged." 

"Mr.  Bryan,  the  Hope  of  Our  Nationality." 

"W.  J.  Bryan,  Defendant  of  Our  Liberty." 

Such  were  the  legends  mounted  upon  the  arches  under  which  Will- 
iam Jennings  Bryan  passed  from  the  railroad  station  to  Malolos  on  the 
occasion  of  his  provincial  excursion  yesterday.  The  trip  was  made  by 
the  famous  democrat,  in  company  with  his  wife  and  children,  as  guests 
of  Mr.  Higgins.  The  private  car  of  Mr.  Higgins  and  an  extra  coach 
took  the  party  first  to  Gapan,  where  it  arrived  about  9:30  a.  m.,  after 
having  -topped  at  several  of  the  stations  en  route,  where  Bryan  mad' 
short  addresses  to  the  delegations,  which  were  in  attendance  at  the 
stations  with  bands  of  music  and  banners  flying  to  greet  him. 

At  Malolos,  the  seat  of  the  former  revolutionary  government  and 
the  center  of  operations  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  "independericia" 
campaign,  luncheon  was  had  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Tanchanco,  an  opu- 
lent Filipino  matron.  After  the  luncheon  was  over  Teodoro  Sandico 
rose  to  introduce  Sr.  De  Luce,  who  addressed  the  following  words  to 
the  assembled  guests: 

"I  salute  the  real  champion  of  a  democratic  people,  the  true  de- 
fender of  the  rights  of  the  people ;  he  who  at  Kansas  City  included  in 
his  platform  the  independence  of  the  Philippine  Islands.  I  am  sorry 
that  his  presence  in  Malolos,  once  the  capital  of  a  Filipino  republic, 
-  so  short.  So  deep-rooted  is  the  desire  for  independence  in  the  Fil- 
ipino people  that  the  news  of  the  arrival  of  this  champion  has  brought 
to  Malolos  many  from  all  about,  only  to  greet  their  savior.  Such 
spontaneous  manifestations  by  all  grades  of  people  will,  I  believe,  con- 
vince you  that  we  desire  our  independence  at  once.  It  will  show  you 
that  we  have  a  right  to  nationality,  that  we  have  everything  that  iS 
necessary  to  support  a  government  of  our  own.  If  the  government 
will  give  os  this  independence  it  will  show  it  is  the  champion  of  lib- 
erty as  it  did  in  its  treatment  of  Cuba.     Such  a  step  here  will  elimin- 


THE    PHILIPPINES 


169 


ate  the  need  of  a  great  American  army  twice  its  natural  size,  and  it 
would  avoid  <the  corruption  of  the  principles  inherited  from  the  an- 
cestors of  Americans.  If  America  will  not  give  us  full  independence, 
grant  us  a  democratic  government!  Separate  the  executive  and  legis- 
lative branches!  Give  us  real  independence  of  the  judiciary!  We 
drink  a  health  to  those  who  have  not  forgotten  the  true  principles 

of  Americans." 

After  the  toasl  to  the  great 
orator  had  been  drank,  Bryan 
rose  to  his  feet  and  addressed 
some  two  or  three  hundred 
nativeSj  aside  from  those  who 
were  gathered  at  luncheon.  The 
following  is  his  address: 

"Allow  me  to  thank  you  for 
the  welcome  you  have  extended 
to  my  family  and  to  me.  I 
appreciate  also  the  kindly  man- 
ner in  which  you  have  referred 
to  the  way  in  which  I  have  tried 
to  express  my  friendship  for  the 
Filipino  people.  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  discuss  here  political 
questions:  I  have  not  felt  that 
in  these  islands  I  should  enter 
on  any  disputed  questions. 

"Some  things  I  can  say  with 
propriety.  While  you  appre- 
ciate the  manner  in  which  I 
have  attempted  to  show  my 
friendship  for  the  Filipinos,  do  not  make  the  mistake  of  believing  that 
those  who  differ  from  me  are  not  interested  in  this  people.  In  my  coun- 
try there  are  two  great  political  parties,  republican  and  democratic. 
They  enter  into  contests  which  are  strenuous,  but  in  fundamental  prin- 
ciples both  are  the  same.  Thomas  Jefferson  founded  the  democratic 
party.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  first  great  republican.  Lincoln  has 
left  records  to  show  the  admiration  that  he  felt  for  the  principles  and 
utterances  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

"In  two  contests  I  was  defeated  by  the  republicans,  but  I  believe 
as  much  in  the  patriotism  of  those  who  voted  against  me  as  I  do 
in  the  patriotism  of  those  who  fought  for  me.     Those  who  agreed 


A  FILIPINO  TEACHER. 


170 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


with  rnc  announced  a  policy  for  the  Philippine.-;.  Those  who  op- 
posed me  did  not.  But  do  not  make  the  mistake  of  believing  that 
those  others  are  enemies  to  the  islands.  I  believe  the  majority  of  all 
American  people  without  regard  to  politics  or  party  are  sincere  well 
wishers  of  the  Filipinos.     Yes,  all. 

"However  you  may  differ  about  policies,  all  your  people  speak  well 
of  what,  our  country  stands  for  in  regard  to  education.  Let  me  re- 
mind you  that  these  little  children  who  are  attending  school  speak 
more  eloquently  in  your  behalf  than  I  am  able  to  do.  The  more 
educated  people  you  have  among  you  the  easier  will  be  the  task  for 
those  who  speak  for  you  in  the  United  States.     The  more  respect  your 


HAULING     HEMP 

people  show  for  the  law  the  easier  will  be  the  task  for  those  who 
speak  for  you.  The  higher  the  ideals  shown  in  your  language 
and  vour  lives  the  easier  the  task  of  those  who  speak  for  von. 
I  want  you  to  have  as  much  confidence  in  the  republicans  in  power 
as  I  have,  though  I  have  been  twice  defeated  by  them.  And  when  [ 
say  this  I  am  not  trying  to  pay  them  for  anything.  I  do  not  owe 
them  anything.  When  I  say  trust  them,  I  say  it  because  I  believe 
the  American  people  want  to  do  right  and,  given  the  time,  will  find 
out  what  is  right  on  every  question. 

"Differences  of  opinion  must  be  expected.  In  fact,  'that  people 
differ  in  opinion  is  to  their  credit  rather  than  to  their  discredit. 
Those  who  agree  in  everything  do  not  as  a  rule  think  on  anything. 


THE    PHILIPPINES  171 

Difference.-  of  opinion  must  not  only  be  expected  but  must  be  re- 
spected. Do  not  expect  our  people  to  administer  authority  here  with- 
out mistakes.  They  make  mistakes  at  home,  and  if  we  democrats  get 
into  power,  good  as  we  are,  we  will  make  mistakes.  The  Spanish  made 
mistakes  here,  and  so  would  the  Filipinos.  J  suggest  that  if  you  want 
to  help  us  who  are  interested  in  you.  you  can  do  it  by  supporting  with 
all  the  enthusiasm  you  have,  the  efforts  made  by  America  here.  Let 
us  hope  that  -whoever  is  in  authority  here  and  there,  they  will  have 
the  wisdom  to  so  promote  the  welfare  of  all,  as  to  unite  both  peoples 
in  an  eternal  affection." 

Conception  Felix,  the  president  of  the  Women's  Association  of  the 
Philippines,  followed  Mr.  Bryan  and  spoke  of  the  duty  of  the  islands 
in  securing  for  them  the  best  advantages  for  their  welfare,  and  con- 
cluded with  the  statement  that  the  women  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
demanded  their  independence. 

After  leaving  Malolos  the  trip  to  Pasig  was  made  and  the  return 
to  Manila  was  so  timed  as  to  allow  the  party  to  arrive  at  Santa  Mesa 
in  good  season.  A  special  car  of  the  street  railway  company  met  it 
there. 

At  the  reception  given  at  Bacolod,  on  the  island  of  Negros,  Jan- 
uray  5,  Senor  Joaquin  Jortich  spoke  as  follows: 

"Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan  and  distinguished  party — Gentle- 
men : 

"The  people  of  Bacolod  and  the  province  in  general,  through  me, 
have  to-day  the  honor  of  greeting  their  distinguished  visitors,  giving 
to  them  all  a  most  cordial  and  sincere  welcome,  and  very  especially 
to  the  illustrious  leader  of  the  democratic  party  who  has  deigned  to 
grant  us  the  high  distinction  of  his  visit. 

"Mr.  Bryan  has  doubtless  noticed  since  he  set  foot  on  Filipino  soil 
that  the  people  of  the  islands  received  him  as  if  he  were  an  old  and 
beloved   friend. 

"There  is  nothing  strange  in  this;  one  of  the  most  striking  quali- 
ties of  the  Filipino  is  gratitude,  even  though  his  enemies  and  detrac- 
tors assert  the  contrary.  The  Filipino  people  know  that  Mr.  Bryan 
has  been  and  is  a  sincere  champion  of  the  Filipino  ideals  and  inter- 
ests in  America,  and  thi<  little  suffices  to  make  all  here,  without  dis- 
tinction, receive  him  to-day  with  open  arm-  and  with  hearts  swelling 
with  joy. 

"His  visit  to-day  to  this  province  gives  us  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing him  personally,  as  well  as  the  opportunity  of  expressing  our  true 
sentiments  toward  the  North   American  people,  to  whom  we  hope  to 


172  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

make  our  humble  voice  heard  through  the  channel  of  our  illustrious 
\  isitor. 

"The  Filipino  people  can  not  fail  to  thank  Providence  which  has 
a  ppointed  to  them  the  good  fortune  of  being  under  the  protection 
of  the  noble  and  powerful  Stars  and  Stripes. 

"No  one  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  constitution  of  North 
America  can  fail  to  admire  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  morality  which 
permeates  it-  most  liberal  institutions. 

"It  is  true  that  the  Philippines  bill  is  not  in  every  way  based  upon 
the  principles  which  that  constitution  breathes,  and  it  is  also  true 
that  in  the  government  administration  there  exist  certain  prejudices 
which  find  no  place  in  so  wise  a  constitution;  but  those  defects  are 
errors  which  Ave  hope  will  be  rectified  in  time  and  through  the  educa- 
tion of  the  people. 

"To  deny  that  the  Filipino  people  aspire  to  independence  in  the 
future  would  be  to  deny  the  light  of  the  sun  in  broad  day.  But  in 
spite  of  this  aspiration,  we  understand  that  peoples,  like  men,  in  order 
to  be  independent  must  necessarily  pass  in  strictly  chronological  order, 
through  different  stages,  which  they  can  not  traverse  by^  leaps  and 
bounds.  Nor  do  we  fail  to  realize  that  the  liberty,  great  or  small, 
which  may  be  granted  to  a  people,  must  be  in  direct  relation  to  the 
state  of  their  culture. 

"Our  ambition  is  just  and  within  the  bounds  of  reason  and  logic.  We 
wish  independence  through  evolution,  because  we  understand  that  a 
people,  differing  from  another  in  race  and  in  its  ethnographical  and 
ethnological  conditions,  can  never  be  governed  with  justice  and  equity 
except  by  itself;  and  this,  because  the  pride  of  superiority  will  always 
dominate  the  governing  race  to  the  detriment  of  the  governed,  and 
the  latter  will  never  be  happy.  Some  of  the  congressmen  and  senators 
who  were  here  a  short  time  ago  have  said  in  Washington  that  the 
Filipino  people  are  growing  away  from  the  American  people.  That 
statement  is  by  no  means  as  clear  as  it  should  be. 

"The  Filipino  people,  by  virtue  of  being  a  tropical  race,  are  very 
sensitive,  and  with  the  same  impetuosity  with  which  they  love  and 
admire  a  benefactor,  they  hate  and  despise  a  tyrant. 

"The  American  people  have  brought  us  in  the  Philippines  many 
things  of  great  value;  they  have  bestowed  upon  us  many  benefits  and 
have  granted  us  many  liberties  which  formerly  we  did  not  enjoy;  but  it 
iii  also  true  that  among  the  good  things  they  have  brought  some  evils; 
among  the  benefits  there  have  sprung  up  like  brambles  certain  unjust 
abuses,  and  among  the  many  liberties  conceded  us  petty  tyrants  have 


THE    PHILIPPINES  173 

arisen  to  restrict  them.  Therefore,  the  Filipino  people  have  grown 
away  from  the  bad  Americans,  but  in  no  way  from  the  American 
people  to  whom  we  owe  but  gratitude  and  love. 

"We  love  those  who  love  us  and  despise  those  who  despise  us. 
However  defective  our  past  civilization  may  have  been,  it  has  left  in 
our  hearts  the  feeling  of  dignity  which  be  tits  a  people  of  culture. 

"Unfortunately,  in  the  Philippines,  not  all  those  who  are  here  as 
Americans  possess  the  noble  sentiments  of  the  American  people,  whom 
Ave  admire  and  love,  for  we  would  be  contemptible  did  we,  through 
the  fault  of  some  bad  representatives,  come  to  hate  an  entire  nation 
which  has  been  and  is  lending  us  its  aid. 

"Our  illustrious  visitor  has  proof  positive  of  my  assertion.  The 
Filipino  people,  without  knowing  him  personally,  receive  him  with 
open  arms  and  as  to  an  old  and  beloved  friend  open  to  him  their 
hearts,   telling   him   their  troubles. 

"This  is  the  Filipino  people,  these  are  their  real  feelings  towards 
the  people  of  North  America. 

"We  trust  that  these  prejudices  may  disappear  in  time,  as  these  two 
races,  destined  to  live  together,  continue  on  the  road  of  mutual  sym- 
pathy and  a  better  understanding. 

"With  regard  to  our  present  situation,  from  an  administrative 
standpoint,  although  we  are  relatively  better  off  than  formerly,  never- 
theless there  are  in  the  present  government  many  defects  which  merit 
censure. 

"Against  such  defects  we  shall  continue  to  struggle  until  the  Phil- 
ippines possess  a  legislative  body  which  shall  know  better  than  that 
of  to-day  the  needs  and  conditions  of  this  people. 

"At  present  we  have  no  legislative  body  but  the  civil  commission, 
composed  of  three  Filipino  members,  without  portfolios,  and  four 
American  members  wTith  them.  The  latter  members,  the  majority 
of  whom  do  not  know  the  country  in  its  inside  phases,  clearly  can 
never  dictate  laws  which  are  adapted  to  the  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions of  the  people. 

"The  Philippine  archipelago  is  very  diverse  in  its  ethnographical 
and  ethnological  conditions,  and,  therefore,  it  is  very  difficult  to  frame 
d  law  which  is  adapted  to  its  general  necessities,  unless  one  has  an 
accurate  and  profound  knowledge  of  the  situation  and  conditions  of 
each  and  every  one  of  the  thirty-some  provinces  which  form  the 
archipelago. 

"Another  of  the  greatest  defects  which  we  observe  in  the  present  gov- 
ernment is  the  inequality  and  lack  of  justice  in  the  appointments  of 


174  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

government  positions,  as  between  Filipinos  and  American.-,  with  the 
exception  of  the  judiciary  which  is  the  department  most  evenly  dis- 
tributed. 

.  "In  the  civil  commission  and  in  the  provincial  boards  the  voice 
of  the  Filipino  is  not  in  the  majority,  neither,  therefore,  is  the  voice 
of  the  people.  It  is  true  that  the  municipalities  appear  to  operate 
with  the  fullest  liberty,  but  this  liberty  is  restricted,  because  the 
provincial  board  exercise  direct  control  over  all  their  acts,  so  that 
municipal  autonomy  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  nominal. 

■The  most  noble  and  acceptable  institution  which  American  gov- 
ernment has  established  here  is  that  of  public  instruction.  Even  the 
officials  in  that  department  are  also  the  best  liked  and  those  upon 
the  most  friendly  terms  with  the  Filipino  people,  although  defects  are 
not  entirely  absent  as  is  the  case  with  every  human  creation.  Against 
this  department  we  can  say  nothing  up  to  the  present.  God  grant 
that  it  may  continue  so  for  many  years,  without  being  affected  by  the 
discord  and  prejudice  which  the  enemies  of  the  country  seek  to  sow. 

"With  respect  to  the  economic  phase,  we  could  be  no  worse  off  than 
we  are  now,  and  this  can  be  easily  explained.  Since  the  year  1896, 
in  which  the  revolution  against  Spain  commenced,  the  Philippines 
have  gone  from  bad  to  worse  in  all  their  economic  conditions,  particu- 
larly in  the  matter  of  agriculture  which  is  the  sole  source  of  their 
wealth.  Of  56,000,000  acres  of  land  which  Ave  have  fit  for  cultiva- 
tion, only  6,000,000  acres  are  cultivated  and  50,000,000  are  not 
cultivated.  War,  drouth,  cholera  and  rinderpest  among  our  work 
animals,  have  prostrated  as  to  such  an  extent  that  all  wdrich  the  farmer 
might  say  of  the  situation  pales  before  the  reality.  To  these  inferior 
troubles  must  be  added  others  on  the  outside,  the  lack  of  market  for 
our  sugar;  Japan,  protecting  herself  from  Formosa,  raises  her  custom 
tariff  upon  sugar;  China,  with  the  boycott,  closes  her  market  to  us 
because  of  our  relations  with  America,  and  rich  America,  which 
should  protect  us,  also  closes  her  doors  to  us  with  a  Dingley  tariff. 

"To  sum  up,  the  Philippines  have  no  money,  they  have  no  pro- 
duction, they  have  no  market.    Could  there  be  a  harder  situation? 

"The  plantations  paralyzed  and  the  laborers  without  work — thus  rises 
the  germ  of  ladronism.  The  scarcity  of  money  is  such  that  in  order 
to  find  a  dollar  to-day  one  needs  a  searchlight,  and  to  make  matters 
worse  the  articles  of  prime  necessity  rise  in  price,  making  existence 
almosl  impossible  for  the  poor  workman. 

"In  the  time  of  the  Spanish  government  there  were  in  circulation 


THE    PHILIPPINES  175 

some  two  hundred  million  of  Mexican  pesos,  to-day  we  have  hardly 
thirty  million,  according  to  the  Last  report  of  the  secretary  of  finance, 
a  sum  which,  when  divided  among  eight  million  inhabitants,  gives 
3.75  pesos  per  capita. 

'If  to  this  we  add  the  stoppage  of  all  business  through  the  paralysis 
of  commerce  and  the  industries,  it  will  be  seen  that  with  3.75  pesos 
for  each  inhabitant,  pauperism,  hunger  and  misery  are  accessary 
consequences. 

"Here  we  have  the  actual  state  of  the  Philippines,  whose  compe- 
tition the  powerful  sugar  trust  in  America  still  fears.  America  Deeds 
three  milium  tons  of  sugar  for  her  home  consumption;  her  production 
amounts  to  only  one  million  tons,  so  that  she  must  import  two  million 
tons  from  abroad.  The  Philippines  produce  only  three  million  piculs 
of  sugar,  or  about  187,500  tons.  Is  it  possible  to  dream  of  competition? 

"Our  money  crisis  can  only  be  met  by  the  establishment  of  agri- 
cultural mortgage  banks,  and  if  we  wish  to  escape  disaster  in  that 
enterprise  it  is  necessary  that  its  administration  be  completely  sepa- 
rated from  the  government,  with  the  exception  of  the  usual  powers  of 
inspection,  this  because  it  is  well  known  that  prosperity  in  these  affairs 
is  based  upon  mercantile  interest,  which  does  not  exist  in  government 
officials,  whose  interests  are  political  rather  than  mercantile.  As  proof 
of  this  statement  let  us  look  at  what  happened  with  the  $3,000,000 
which  the  national  government  donated  to  the  insular  government 
to  improve  the  grievous  situation  of  the  country.  With  all  our  soul 
we  are  grateful  for  so  generous  a  gift,  but  we  greatly  regret  that  the 
government  has  not  known  how  to  administer  it  better.  The  $3,000,- 
000  have  been  exhausted,  but  the  situation  of  the  country  has  not 
improved  in  the  slightest  degree.     That  was,  indeed,  a  disaster. 

"To-day  questions  involving  -many  millions  are  being  discussed  and 
it  would  be  very  lamentable  if  the  protection  and  good  washes  of  the 
national  government  should  come  to  naught  through  a  mistaken  or 
defective  administration.  Our  agricultural  crisis  is  due  rather  to  the 
terrible  mortality  of  the  work  animals,  which  is  to-day  extending  to 
all  classes  of  cattle.  This  is  a  misfortune  from  which  we  have  been 
suffering  since  the' year  1001.  Five  years  of  massacre,  no  stock  in 
the  world  will  stand  it, 

•"To  remedy  this  state  of  affairs  we  need  machinery  which  will  take 
the  place  of  the  work  animals,  and  we  believe  that  the  free  entry  of 
every  class  of  machinery  for  a  definite  time  would  be  one  of  the  most 
efficacious  means  of  fomenting  and  encouraging  the  many  lines  of 


L76 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    TTS    WAYS 


industry    which   we   have   to   exploit,    and,    therefore,   of   raising   the 
country  from  the  state  of  prostration  in  which  it  is  found. 

"With  what  has  been  said,  our  distinguished  guest  will  be  able  to 


MORO    HUTS. 


THRESHING  RICE. 

form  an  idea  of  the  situation  of  this  country  under  its  triple  aspect, 
political,  administrative  und  economic  and  echo  across  the  seas  our 
by  no  means  enviable  condition     I  have  spoken." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  PHILIPPINES— THE  MORO  COUNTRY. 

The  term  Mo-ro  is  used  to  describe  the  Mohammedan  Filipino  and 
includes  a  number  of  tribes  occupy  inn;  the  large  island  of  Mindanao, 
the  smaller  islands  adjacent  to  it  and  those  of  the  Snlu  archipelago. 

The  northeast  corner  of  Mindanao  is  separated  from  the  island  of 
Leyte  by  the  Surigao  Strait,  and  that  part  of  Mindanao  has  consid- 
erable sprinkling  of  Christian  Filipinos,  but  both  that  island  and  the 
Sulus  can  be  considered  Moro  country.  The  Americans  recognize  the 
difference  between  the  two  groups  of  islands  and  administer  govern- 
ment according  to  different  plans.  Civil  government  has  been  estab- 
lished in  the  northern  islands,  and  except  where  ladronism  prevails, 
law  and  order  reign.  There  are  in  some  places,  as  in  northern  Luzon, 
wild  tribes  in  the  mountains,  but  these  are  so  few  in  number  and  so 
different  from  the  civilized  Filipinos  that  they  do  not  enter  into  the 
solution  of  the  Philippine  problem. 

In  Mindanao,  however,  and  the  other  Moro  provinces  warlike  tribes 
have  been  in  control.  They  have  furnished  a  large  number  of  pirates 
and  have  frequently  invaded  the  northern  island,  carrying  back  Fili- 
pino slaves.  They  never  acknowledged  the  authority  of  Spain  and 
succeeded  in  keeping  most  of  the  island  in  the  southern  group  free 
from  Spanish  control.  Our  country  probably  exercises  authority  over 
more  Moro  territory  than  Spain  ever  did,  and  yet  our  authority  is 
limited  and  we  employ  the  military  form  of  government  rather  than 
the  civil. 

In  our  tour  of  the  islands  we  crossed  over  the  narrow  part  of  Min- 
danao, went  up  the  Cotabato  valley  and  called  upon  the  Sultan  of 
Sulu  at  his  home  near  Maibun  on  the  island  of  Sulu. 

We  landed  at  Camp  Overton,  a  military  post  on  Iligan  bay  on  the 
north  coast  of  Mindanao,  and  immediately  began  the  ascent  to  Camp 
Kiethley,  eighteen  miles  in  the  interior.  A  military  road  has  been 
constructed  between  these  two  camps,  following  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  way  the  Spanish  trail.     Owing  to  the  heavy  rainfall  and  the 

177 


L78  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND     ITS    WAYS 

luxuriant  growth  of  vegetation  it  is  difficult  to  keep  a  road  in  repair, 
and  not  far  from  the  coast  we  passed  a  large  number  of  prisoners  who 
were  engaged  in  straightening  and  improving  it.     About  three  miles 
from  the  coast  we  made  a  short  detour  in  order  to  see  the  famous 
Argus  Falls,  and  they  are  well  worth  seeing.     The  Argus  river,  which 
at  this  point  is  a  larger  stream,  falls  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  and 
rushes  by  a  tortuous  route  through  the  narrow  walls  of  a  gorge.     The 
falls   are    not   only   picturesque,   but    they  suggest  the  possibility   of 
future  use.     It  has  been  calculated  that  one  hundred  thousand  horse 
power  is  here  going  to  waste.     The  military  authorities  have  been 
trying  to  secure  an  appropriation  for  an  electric  railroad  from  Camp 
Overton  to  Camp  Kiethley  with  the  intention  of  obtaining  power  from 
the  falls,  but  this  would  utilize  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  energy 
which  the  Argus  possesses.    Two  miles  farther  up  the  road  wTe  turned 
aside   to  see  the  rapids  of  the  same  river  and  here  made  our  first 
acquaintance  with  the  Moros.     We  found  a  dozen  of  them  under  a 
rude  shed  of  palm  leaves  preparing  the  evening  meal.     The   most 
conspicuous  dish,  at  least  the  dish  that  attracted  our  attention,  was 
a  skillet  full  of  grasshoppers  being  done  to  a  neat  brown  over  a  slow7 
fire.     While  we  were  watching  them,  two  half  bare  children  returned 
from  the  chase  with  a  large  supply  of  fresh  grasshoppers  strung  upon 
grass.      The  Moros  have  a  most  repulsive  habit  of  dyeing  the  teeth 
black,  the  enamel  being  first  scraped  off.     Add  to  this  the  red  tinge 
left  on  the  lips  by  chewing  of  the  betel  nut  and  the  mouth  is  any- 
thing but  beautiful.     The  clothing  of  the  Moros  is  scanty  and  of  a 
cheap  quality.     The  men,  when  at  work,  often  wear  nothing  but  a 
breech  cloth.     When  dressed  up  they  wear  very  tight  fitting  trousers 
of  gay  color;  a  tight  fitting  waist  and  a  turban  completes  their  com- 
pany  dress.      A   garment   much   worn   by   men   and   women   is   the 
sarong,  which  is  a  piece  of  cloth  sewed  together  like  a  roller  towel 
and  folded  about  the  body.     The    men,  no    matter  what  else  they 
wear  or  fail  to  wear,  have  a  scarf  wound  around  the  wraist  in  wThich 
they  carry  a  knife,  of  which  there  are  several  varieties,  the  bolo,  the 
sarong  and  the  kris  being  the  most  popular.     The  Moros  above  men- 
tioned consented  to  having  a  snapshot  taken,'  and  their  spokesman 
informed  us  in  broken   English^  that  he  had  visited  the   St.   Louis 
Exposition.    Captain  McCoy,  one  of  General  Wood's  staff,  who  accom- 
panied us  as  far  as  Zamboanga,  explained  to  us  that  a  number  of 
Moros  were  sent  to  St.  Louis  as  an  experiment  and  that  they  had 
returned  very  much  impressed  with  what  they  saw7  in  the  United 
States. 


THE    MORO    COUNTRY  L79 

As  we  proceeded  on  the  road  to  Kiethley  we  passed  the  spot  where 
a  sergeant  was  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Moros  three  weeks  before.  While 
all  the  Moros  carry  knives  and  are  expert  in  their  use,  they  set  a  high 
estimate  upon  a  gun,  and  the  hapless  traveler  who  carries  one  of  these 
envied  weapons  is  apt  to  be  waylaid,  if  alone,  and  lose  his  life  as  a 
penalty  for  his  rashness.  With  this  incident  f'resli  in  his  memory, 
Col.  Steever,  of  Camp  Overton,  furnished  us  with  a  mounted  guard. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  ride  we  passed  through  a  forest  in  which 
there  were  many  large  trees,  some  of  them  with  fantastic  trunks, 
others  festooned  with  vines  and  all  surrounded  by  a  thick  under- 
growth which  furnish  an  admirable  coyer  for  reptiles,  beasts  or 
hostile  natives.  A  boa-constrictor,  thirty-six  feet  long,  was  recently 
killed  not  far  from  the  road  on  which  we  traveled. 

I  have  referred  to  the  killing  of  the  sergeant  and  mentioned  the 
reason  sometimes  given.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  we  occasionally 
lose  men  for  reasons  that  reflect  upon  us.  Governor  Devore,  whose 
jurisdiction  extends  over  a  part  of  Mindanao,  officially  reports  the 
killing  of  one  soldier  in  a  quarrel  which  grew  out  of  an  attempt  by 
the  soldier  to^secure  native  wine  without  paying  for  it. 

The  latter  part  of  the  ride  was  through  a  series  of  small  hills 
covered  with  cogon  grass.  The  soil  looks  like  it  might  be  very  fertile, 
and  we  passed  one  little  ranch  where  an  American  had  set  out  some 
hemp  plants,  but  there  was  little  evidence  of  cultivation  along  the  line. 

Camp  Kiethley  is  about  twenty-three  hundred  feet  above  the  sea 
on  a  hill  which  bears  the  same  name,  and  commands  a  beautiful  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  The  ocean  can  be  seen  to  the  north, 
and  to  the  south  a  magnificent  mountain  lake  stretches  away  for  twenty 
miles.  A  regiment  under  the  command  of  Col.  Williams  is  stationed 
here,  and  this  is  considered  one  of  the  most  healthful  situations  in 
the  Philippine  Islands.  The  American  officers  insist  that  Mindanao 
has  a  better  climate  than  Luzon,  and  some  of  them  are  enthusiastic 
about  the  possibility  of  drawing  American  settlers  to  the  island. 
General  Wood  has  given  much  attention  to  the  products  and  climatic 
conditions,  and  has  encouraged  the  coming  of  Americans  to  Mindanao. 
Some  two  hundred  of  these  have  settled  about  Davao  bay  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  island  and  are  cultivating  hemp.  I  found, 
however,  that  most  of  the  members  of  the  military  circle  were  counting 
the  months  intervening  before  the  time  of  their  return  to  the  States. 
The  ride  across  Lake  Lanao  took  us  in  sight  of  some  hostile  country 
whose  inhabitants  still  refuse  to  acknowledge  allegiance  to  the  United 
States.     Some  of  the  cottas,  or  forts,  from  which  Moros  have  been 


180  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS   WAYS 

driven  within  a  few  months  were  pointed  out  to  us.  Governor  Devore 
is  building  a  model  town  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  and  hopes  to  con- 
vince the  natives  of  the  friendly  intentions  of  our  country. 

Cam])  Vickars  is  only  a  few  miles  south  of  the  lake  and  near  the 
summit  of  the  divide.  The  elevation  here  is  twenty-nine  hundred 
feet  and  the  site  for  the  camp  is  well  chosen.  It  is  about  twenty-two 
miles  from  this  point  down  <to  Malabang,  the  seaport  on  Liana 
bay,  and  Captain  Foster,  who  is  in  command  at  Camp  Vickars, 
furnished  us  with  a  mounted  escort.  The  ride  down  to  the  sea  was 
even  more  enjoyable  than  the  trip  to  Cam})  Kiethley,  the  road  leading 
through  forests  more  dense  and  foliage  more  varied.  The  journey 
was  enlivened  by  the  sight  of  a  number  of  monkeys  sporting  in  the 
trees  and  by  the  discordant  notes  of  the  horn-bill.  There  is  a  waterfall 
on  the  south  side  of  the  range  also,  nearly  half  way  down  the  sum- 
mit, which,  while  it  does  not  compare  with  the  Argus  Falls,  could  be 
used  for  the  development  of  several  thousand  horse  power. 

The  camp  at  Malabang,  now  under  command  of  Col.  Varnum,  has 
a  splendid  water  supply  derived  from  several  large  springs,  but  the 
harbor  is  so  poor  that  the  government  is  preparing  to  remove  the 
camp  to  Parang,  about  twenty  miles  south,  where  there  is  an  excel- 
lent harbor. 

At  Malabang  we  took  our  boat  again,  it  having  gone  around  the 
island  while  we  crossed  over,  and  proceeded  to  Cotabata  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  river.  Acting  Governor  Boyd  met  us  here 
with  a  river  steamer  and  took' us  to  his  headquarters  about  thirty- 
five  miles  further  up  the  river.  We  had  a  double  purpose  in  making 
this  trip,  first  to  see  one  of  the  most  fertile  valleys  on  the  island;  and, 
second,  to  pay  our  respects  to  Datu  Piang,  a  friendly  Moro  of  consid- 
erable influence  among  the  natives.  The  Rio  Grande  is  a  crooked 
stream,  wending  its  way  through  the  high  grass,  the  monotony  being 
broken  now  and  then  by  cocoanut  groves,  rice  fields,  mango  trees, 
banana  plants  and  hemp.  While  there  is  no  such  systematic  culti- 
vation here  as  in  the  northern  islands,  there  is  enough  to  show  the 
possibilities  of  the  soil. 

The  moon  was  shining  brightly  when  we  approached  Governor 
Boyd's  camp,  and  we  wTere  greeted  by  a  salute  of  lantakas  (small  brass 
cannon)  so  numerous  that  we  lost  all  count.  Datu  Piang  had  inquired 
of  the  governor  howT  many  guns  should  be  fired  and  was  told  that  as 
I  held  no  official  position,  he  could  use  his  own  discretion  as  to  the 
number.  In  order  that  he  might  not  err  on  the  side  of  too  few,  he 
fired  between  fifty  and  a  hundred.  We  had  scarcely  disembarked 
before  he  came  in  state  to  make  an  official  call,  seated  on  the  roof  of 


THE    MORO    COUNTRY  181 

his  vinta,  or  ceremonial  barge,  manned  by  forty  oarsmen.  lie  was 
accompanied  by  his  leading  datus,  his  Mohammedan  Arab  advisor 
and  his  East  Indian  interpreter.  He  brought  with  him  also  his  two 
sons  and  two  of  the  sons  of  the  late  Datu  Ali,  who  met  a  violent  death 
last  fall  at  the  hands  of  the  American  troops. 

I  regret  that  we  were  not  able  to  secure  a  photograph  of  him  as 
he  approached,  for  it  was  a  sight  of  royalty  such  as  we  had  not  before 
witnessed.  No  language  can  convey  the  impression  that  he  made 
upon  us  as  he  approached  the  shore,  smoking  a  cigar  and  flanked  on 
either  side  by  a  brown  skinned  urchin  bearing  an  open  umbrella  of 
red  silk  trimmed  with  wide  yellow  fringe.  lie  stayed  long  enough 
to  compliment  the  American  officials  and  to  commend  Judge  Powell, 
who  happened  to  be  with  us,  for  treating  the  rich  and  the  poor  alike. 
Piang's  sons  and  the  younger  son  of  Datu  Ali  have  been  studying 
English  under  the  instruction  of  Governor  Boyd's  wife,  and  they 
showed  creditable  progress  in  arithmetic  as  well  as  in  the  use  of  the 
language.  Piang  said  that  he  wanted  the  boys  to  finish  their  educa- 
tion in  the  United  States. 

Datu  Piang- is  not  of  royal  blood;  in  fact,  he  is  part  Chinese,  but 
he  showed  himself  so  able  a  financier  that  he  became  indispensable  to 
Ali,  the  reigning  Datu,  and  gave  his  daughter,  Minka,  to  him  in 
marriage.  When  the  Americans  entered  the  valley,  Piang  counseled 
surrender,  but  Ali  went  on  the  war  path  and  he  and  his  father-in-law 
became  such  bitter  enemies  that  the  latter  refused  to  receive  his 
daughter  into  his  house  after  All's  death,  until  urged  to  do  so  by  the 
American  officers. 

We  returned  with  Piang  in  his  barge  and  spent  a  half  an  hour  at 
his  house.  In  that  dimly  lighted  upper  room  there  gathered  a  dusky, 
half-bare  crowd  of  men  and  women  and  children,  in  the  center  of 
which  sat  Minka,  the  child-widow,  just  recovering  from  the  wounds 
which  she  received  at  the  time  of  her  husband's  death.  I  never  felt- 
more  deeply,  than  when  I  looked  upon  them,  the  responsibility  of  our 
nation,  or  more  anxious  that  our  country  shall  so  act  as  to  bring  to 
these  people  the  largest  possible  amount  of  good.  One  would  be  hard 
hearted,  indeed,  who  could  see  in  them  and  in  their  habitation  nothing 
but  the  possibility  of  exploitation. 

When  we  left,  Piang  gave  a  lantaka  to  each  of  the  men  in  our  party, 
and  to  some  of  us  spears  and  knives  in  addition,  while  the  ladies  were 
remembered  with  vessels  of  brass,  of  native  manufacture,  and  sarongs. 
If  our  visit  had  been  a  hostile  one,  the  cannons  and  weapons  carried 
away  would  have  made  it  memorable,  for  many  expeditions  have 
returned  with  less  of  tin-  spoils  of  war. 


182 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Our  next  stop  was  at  Zamboanga,  the  most  important  port  on 
the  island  and  the  headquarters  of  Governor  Wood.  The  harbor  at 
the  city  is  not  very  well  protected,  but  there  is  a  little  bay  about 
eight  miles  away  whicli  affords  both  deep  water  and  shelter.  We 
found  more  Americans  at  Zamboanga  than  at  any  point  outside  of 
Manila,  nearly  all  of 
them  being  in  the  serv- 
ice of  the  government. 
We  visited  two  Moro 
schools  here  and  lis- 
tened to  an  address  of 
welcome  in  English  de- 
livered by  one  of  the 
students.  Dr.  Saleeby. 
an  Armenian,  is  the  su- 
perintendent of  schools 
in  Zamboanga  and  has 
furnished  a  great  deal 
of  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  tradition, 
history  and  customs  of 
the  Moros.  He  has  also 
prepared  primers  in 
Arabic  for  the  Moros  of 
Mindanao  and  the  Sulu 
Islands. 

Our  tour  of  the 
islands  ended  at  Jolo,  or 
rather  at  Maibun.  on 
the  other  side  of  the 
island.  Jolo  is  the  chief 
mm  port  of  the  Sulus, 
and  the  Spanish  alter- 
nated with  the  natives 
in  occupying  the  space 
within  the  walled  city. 
A  guard  is  still  kept  at 
the  gate  and  the  Moros  are  not  allowed  to  remain  within  the  walls  at 
night.  They  enter  freely  daring  the  day,  but  are  required  to  leave  their 
weapon-  outside  the  gate.     There  are  only  five  Americans  in  Jolo,  be- 


MOROS. 


THE    MORO    COUNTRY  L83 

sides  the  government  officials;  two  of  these  keep  restaurants,  two  have 
saloons  and  the  fifth  has  recently  opened  a  photograph  gallery. 

Just  outside  of  the  city  walls  there  is  a  Chinese  village  (as  thero 
is  also  at  Zamboanga),  the  mercantile  business  being  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  Chinese  in  both  of  these  towns.  There  are  a  number 
of  Christian  Filipinos  at  both  Zamboanga  and  Jolo. 

The  sultan  of  Sulu  used  to  live  in  Jolo  when  the  Spanish  were 
not  there,  but  during  their  occupancy  of  the  town,  and  since,  ho 
has  lived  at  Maibun  on  the  opposite  shore  some  ten  miles  distant. 
Major  Stafford,  who  is  in  command  of  the  post  there,  in  the  absence  of 
Colonel  Scott,  invited  the  sultan  to  come  to  Jolo  on  the  day  of  our 
arrival,  and  he  appeared  promptly  on  time.  So  much  has  been  writ- 
ten of  him  in  the  United  States  that  the  readers  of  these  articles  may 
he  interested  in  a  description  from  life.  lie  came  on  a  pony,  accom- 
panied by  a  servant,  who  held  over  him  a  large  red  umbrella,  and 
followed  by  a  retinue  of  datus,  head  men  and  small  hoys.  A  native 
band  beat  drums  and  tom-toms  as  the  procession  moved  along.  Tic 
sultan  himself  was  dressed  in  modern  clothes,  hut  all  the  rest  wore 
the  native  dress.  His  single-breasted,  long-tailed  blue  broadcloth  coat 
was  buttoned  to  the  throat  with  gold  buttons  and  his  trousers  were  of 
the  same  material.  He  wore  tan  shoes  and  a  fez  of  black  and  red,  and 
carried  a  gold-headed  ivory  cane  given  him  by  the  Philippine  com- 
mission upon  his  last  visit  to  Manila.  He  is  small  of  stature,  but 
compact  in  build,  and  carries  himself  with  dignity  and  reserve. 
His  teeth  are  black  and  he  shares  with  his  countrymen  a  fond- 
ness for  the  betel  nut  and  tobacco.  His  prime  minister,  Haji 
Butu,  who  accompanied  him,  speaks  more  English  than  the  sultan, 
though  the  latter  is  able  to  use  a  few  words.  After  a  short  call  we 
all  repaired  to  a  hall  near  by  where  a  spear  dance  had  been  arranged, 
and  we  saw  the  natives,  men  and  women,  go  through  native  dances 
which,  in  some  respects,  resemble  those  of  the  American  Indian. 

The  next  morning  we  crossed  the  island  under  the  protection  of  a 
troop  of  cavalry  and  returned  the  sultan's  call.  (A  few  miles  from 
the  trail  stands  a  mountain*  where  about  eighty  Moros  still  refuse 
allegiance  to  our  government.)  He  lives  in  a  nipa  house  but  has  a 
frame  building  covered  with  galvanized  iron  (still  unfinished)  in 
which  he  receives  his  guests.  He  sent  for  one  of  his  wives  (of  whom 
he  has  four)  :  he  has  three  or  four  concubines,  he  does  not  know 
which,  but    these  are   not    included  in   the  list  of  wives.      The   prime 

*  Since  our  visit  the  Americans  have  attacked  this  hill  and  taken  it  with  great 
slaughter. 


184  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

minister  has  four  wives  and  two  concubines,  and  one  of  the  head  men, 
at  whose  house  we  stopped  on  the  way,  had  several  wives.  The  sultan 
said  that  the  wives  were  usually  kept  in  separate  houses,  but  that 
his  lived  together  in  one  house. 

Tin  sultana,  whom  we  saw,  was  dressed  in  silk,  with  trousers  of  red 
and  white  striped  satin  and  wore  high  heeled  shoes.  She  has  a 
strong  face,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  that  we  saw  in  Sulu.  Both 
tin-  sultan  and  his  wife  wore  diamond  and  pearl  rings.  At  our  request 
the  sultan  brought  forth  his  diamonds  and  pearls  and  exhibited  his 
uniforms,  heavy  with  gold  braid  and  buttons.  He  is  now  drawing  a 
.-alary  of  about  five  thousand  dollars  a  year  from  the  American 
government  for  exerting"  his  influence  in  our  behalf,  and  as  a  matter 
of  economy  it  might  be  cheaper  to  put  the  datus  on  the  pay  roll 
than  to  suppress  them  by  force  of  arms.  His  salary,  however,  is 
probably  due  as  much  to  his  being  the  head  of  the  church  as  to  his 
fighting  qualities. 

We  sailed  from  Maibun  to  the  Bornean  coast  in  order  to  take  a 
?teamer  for  Singapore,  and  as  we  are  studying  colonialism,  it  was 
probably  fortunate  that  we  did.  for  we  found  a  few  foreigners  devel- 
oping North  Borneo  with  Chinese  coolies,  the  natives  being  lost  sight 
ol  entirely. 

At  Sandakan  there  are  thirty-eight  English,  two  Germans  and  two 
thousand  Chinese,  but  we  searched  in  vain  for  a  native.  In  and 
about  Kudat,  another  Bornean  port,  there  are  twenty-two  Europeans 
and  ten  thousand  Chinese,  and  here  we  found  only  a  few  of  the 
original  inhabitants.  At  Labuan  there  are  about  twenty-five  foreign- 
ers,  and  the  local  business  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  and  East 
Indians. 

I  refer  to  the  plan  of  development  adopted  in  those  parts  of  Borneo 
at  which  our  steamer  stopped  because  they  throw  light  upon  the 
colonial  question  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  Having  described 
briefly,  but  as  fully  as  space  permits,  the  conditions  as  I  found  them 
in  the  Philippines,  I  shall  devote  the  next  article  to  a  discussion 
of  the  policy  which  should  be  pursued  by  the  United  States  in  regard 
to  them. 


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CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  PHILIPPINE  PROBLEM. 

Having  in  previous  articles  discussed  the  conditions  as  I  found 
them  in  the  Philippines,  let  us  consider  what  the  United  States  should 
do  in  regard  to  the  Filipinos  and  their  islands. 

First,  as  to  the  northern  group  of  islands — the  islands  north  of 
Mindanao.  Have  the  Filipinos  a  right  to  self  government?  Do  they 
desire  self  government  and  independence?  Have  they  the  capacity 
for  self  government? 

The  first  question  must  be  answered  in  the  affirmative  if  our  theory 
of  government  is  correct.  That  governments  derive  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  is  either  true  or  false;  if  true,  we 
cannot  deny  its  application  to  the  Filipinos;  if  false,  we  must  find 
some   other   foundation   for   our   own    government. 

To  the  second  question  I  am  able  to  answer,  yes.  My  visit  to  the 
Philippines  has  settled  this  question  in  my  own  mind.  I  have  heard 
people  in  America  affirm  that  the  intelligent  Filipinos  preferred 
American  sovereignty  to  self  government,  but  this  is  unqualifiedly 
false.  Captain  J.  A.  Moss,  a  member  of  General  Corbin's  personal 
staff,  recently  made  a  trip  through  the  provinces  of  Pampanga,  Nueva 
Ecija  and  Pangasinan  and  published  a  journal  of  his  trip  in  one  of 
the  Manila  papers  upon  his  return.  He  concluded  his  observations 
as  follows:  "The  discharged  soldiers  who  are  married  to  native  women 
and  who  are  'growing  up  with  the  country'  and  are,  therefore,  in  a 
most  excellent  position  to  feel  the  native  poise,  all  told  me  trie  great 
majority  of  the  natives  have  no  use  for  us.  Ex-interpreters  and  other 
Filipinos  with  whom  I  was  on  intimate,  cordial  relations  while  serv- 
ing in  the  provinces,  told  me  the  same  thing.  I  have,  therefore,  from 
the  foregoing,  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Filipinos  may  be 
divided  into  three  classes:  (a)  The  'precious  few,'  comprising  those 
who  are  really  friendly  towards  the  Americans  and  think  our  govern- 
ment beneficial  to  the  islands,  (b)  Those  who  are  in  some  way  bene- 
ficiaries of  the  government  and  entertain  for  us  what  may  be  termed 
'expedient  friendship.'      (c)   The  great  majority,  who  have  absolutely 

186 


THE    PHILIPPINE    PROBLEM 


187 


no  use  for  us  and  to  please  whom  we  cannol  gel  out  of  the  islands 
any  too  soon." 

The  conclusion  drawn  by  Captain  Moss  is  warranted  by  the  facts, 
and  the  feeling  for  independence  is  stronger  in  Manila,  if  possible, 
than  in  the  provinces.  I  talked  with  Filipinos,  official  and  unofficial, 
and  while  they  differed  in  the  degree  of  friendliness  which  they  felt 
toward  the  United  States,  all  expected  ultimate  independence.  Th" 
college  students  of  Manila  in  the  various  law  schools,  medical  colleges, 
and   engineering  schools,    numbering    in    all    about    a  thousand,    pre- 


HEXRY  C.  IDE,  GOV.  GEN.   PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS. 


pared  and  presented  to  me  a  memorial  of  more  than  fifty  printed 
pages.  This  was  prepared  by  sub-committees  and  afterwards  dis- 
cussed, adopted  and  signed  by  the  students.  It  presented  an 
elaborate  review  of  the  economic,  industrial  and  political  situation. 
viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  these  young  men.     It  criticised  certain 


188 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


acts  of  the  American  government  thought  to  be  unjust  and  set  forth 
arguments  in  favor  of  self  government  and  independence — argu- 
ments so  fundamental  and  so  consistent  with  American  ideals  that 
no  American  statesman  would  have  publicly  disputed  them  ten  years 
ago. 

The  Filipinos  point  out 
that  the  Americans  lack 
that  sympathy  for,  and  in- 
terest in,  the  Filipinos  nec- 
essary to  just  legislation, 
and  this  argument  is  no 
reflection  upon  the  good 
intentions  of  Americans. 
In  fact,  good  intention  is 
generally  admitted,  but 
Americans  at  home  recog- 
nize, as  do  Filipinos  here, 
that  good  intentions  are 
not  all  that  is  required.  We 
have  in  the  L'nited  States 
men  of  equal  general  intel- 
ligence but  differing  so  in 
sympathy  that  no  amount 
of  good  intent  can  keep 
one  from  doing  what  the 
other  regards  as  unjust. 
Take  for  instance,  the  rep- 
resentative capitalist  and 
the  average  laboring  man ; 
neither  would  feel  that  the 
other,  however  well  mean- 
ing, was  competent  to 
speak  for  him. 

The  Filipinos  also  deny 
that  the  Americans  are  suf- 
ficiently acquainted  with  Philippine  affairs  to  legislate  wisely.  We 
also  recognize  the  force  of  this  argument  at  home,  and  we  leave  the 
people  of  each  state  to  act  upon  their  own  affairs.  The  people  of  a 
city  would  resent  interference  in  their  local  affairs  by  the  people  of 
the  county  although  identical  in  race  and  language.  And  they  would 
nl  just  as  much  the  attempt  of  any  group  of  men,  however  wise,  to 


DATU    PIANO    AND    GRANDSON. 


THE    PHILIPPINE    PROBLEM  189 

direct  their  government  during  a  temporary  residence.  How.  then,  can 
congress  expert  to  Legislate  wisely  for  people  who  are  not  only  .sepa- 
rated from  America  by  the  widest  of  the  oceans,  but  differ  from  the 
people  of  the  United  Stales  in  color,  race,  history  and  traditions? 
How  can  a  body  of  men.  however  benevolent  and  intelligent,  hope  by 
a  few  months'  residence  to  so  identify  themselves  with  the  Filipinos 
as  to  make  rules  and  regulations  suited  to  their  needs? 

The  Filipinos  also  present  an  argument  against,  the  expensiveness 
of  American  rule,  and  this  argument  is  not  only  unanswerable,  but 
it  is  directed  against  an  evil  which  is  without  remedy.  If  American- 
are  to  hold  office  in  the  Philippines,  they  must  be  well  paid.  They 
must  not  only  receive  as  much  as  they  would  receive  in  the  United 
States,  for  the  same  work,  but  they  must  receive  more  in  order  to 
compensate  them  for  serving  so  far  from  home.  This  is  not  only 
theoretically  true,  but  the  theory  is  exemplified  in  the  pay  roll.  The 
governor  general  receives  $20,000  a  year,  two-fifths  of  the  salary  of  the 
president  of  the  United  States,  and  yet,  what  a  contrast  between  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  two  positions!  And  what  a  difference, 
too,  in  the  wealth  of  the  two  countries  and  in  the  ability  of  the 
taxpayers  of  the  two  countries  to  pay  the  salaries! 

The  three  American  members  of  the  commission  (excluding  the 
governor  general)  receive  $15,000  per  year,  almost  twice  the  salary 
of  cabinet  officers  and  three  times  the  salary  of  senators  and  members 
of  congress.  It  is  true  that  these  salaries  do  not  appear  as  salaries 
paid  for  work  on  the  commission,  but  as  each  American  member  of 
the  commission  receives  $10,000  as  head  of  a  department  and  $5,000 
as  a  member  of  the  commission,  his  total  income  is  $15,000  while 
the  Filipino  members  of  the  commission  receive  but  $5,000. 

The  members  of  the  Philippine  supreme  court  receive  $10,000  each 
(the  Filipino  members  of  the  court  receiving  the  same  as  the  Ameri- 
cans), a  sum  much  larger  than  that  usually  paid  to  judges  in  the 
United  States  in  courts  of  similar  importance.  This  high  range  of 
salaries  runs  through  the  entire  list  of  civil  officials,  and  there  is  no 
chance  of  lowering  it.  Except  in  the  case  of  judges,  the  Filipino 
officials,  as  a  rule,  receive  considerably  less  than  the  Americans  per- 
forming similar  work,  and  this  is  a  constant  source  of  complaint.  To 
Americans  it  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  say  that  high  salaries  are  neces- 
sary to  secure  able  and  efficient  officials  from  the  United  States,  but 
the  Filipino  is  quick  to  respond,  "why,  then,  do  you  insist  upon  send- 
ing us  Americans  to  do  what  our  people  could  do  and  would  do  for 
less  compensation?" 


190  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Not  only  must  the  salaries  of  Americans  be  high,  but  Americans 
must  be  surrounded  with  comforts  to  which  the  average  Filipino  is 
not  accustomed.  No  one  can  remain  in  the  Philippines  long  without 
hearing  of  the  Benguet  road  and  the  enormous  amount  expended  in 
its  construction.  There  is  a  mountain  resort  in  Benguet  Province,  in 
north  central  Luzon,  which  the  commission  thought  might  be  devel- 
oped  into  a  summer  capital  or  a  place  to  which  the  families  of  the 
officials,  if  not  the  officials  themselves,  might  retreat  during  the  heated 
term.  The  railroad  running  from  Manila  to  Dagupan  would  carry 
the  health-seeker  to  within  thirty  or  forty  miles  of  Benguet,  and  an 
engineer  estimated  that  a  wagon  road  could  be  constructed  the  rest 
of  the  way  for  $75,000.  It  seemed  worth  while  to  the  commission  to 
appropriate  that  much  for  a  purpose  which  promised  so  much  for  the 
health  and  comfort  of  those  engaged  in  the  benevolent  work  of  estab 
lishing  a  stable  government.  The  commission  could  hardly  be  blamed 
for  relying  upon  the  opinion  of  the  engineer,  and  the  engineer  doubt- 
less meant  well.  But  the  first  appropriation  scarcely  made  an  impres- 
sion, and  the  second  engineer  estimated  that  the  cost  would  be  a 
little  greater.  Having  invested  $75,000,  the  commission  did  not  like 
to  abandon  the  plan  and  so  further  appropriations  were  made  until 
more  than  two  millions  and  a  half  dollars,  gold,  have  been  drained 
from  the  Insular  treasury,  and  the  Benguet  road  is  not  yet  completed. 
II'  it  i-  ever  completed,  it  will  require  a  constant  outlay  of  a  large 
sum  annually  to  keep  it  in  repair. 

Having  met  the  members  of  the  commission  and  other  Americans 
residing  in  the  Philippines,  I  am  glad  to  testify  that  they  are,  as  a 
rule,  men  of  character,  ability  and  standing.  The  personnel  of  Phil- 
ippine official  life  is  not  likely  to  be  improved,  and  so  long  as  we 
occupy  the  islands  under  a  colonial  policy,  the  Benguet  experiment 
is  liable  to  be  repeated  in  various  forms,  and  yet  the  Filipinos  point 
to  the  Benguet  folly  to  show  that  the  Americans  are  both  ignorant 
of  local  conditions  and  partial  toward  the  foreign  population. 

The  third  question,  are  the  Filipinos  competent  to  govern  them- 
selves? is  the  one  upon  which  the  decision  must  finally  turn.  Ameri- 
cans will  not  long  deny  the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  our 
own  government  rests,  nor  will  they  upon  mature  reflection  assert 
that  foreigners  can  sympathize  as  fully  with  the  Filipino  as  repre- 
sentatives chosen  by  the  Filipinos  themselves.  The  expensiveness  of 
a  foreign  governmenl  and  its  proneness  to  misunderstand  local  needs 
will  be  admitted  by  those  who  give  the  subject  any  thought,  but  well- 
meaning   persons   may   still   delude   themselves   with   the  belief  that 


THE    NIII.IITIXK    PROBLEM 


VM 


Spanish  rule  has  incapacitated  the  present  generation  for  wisely  exer- 
cising ilif  franchise,  or  thai  special  conditions  may  until  the  Filipinos 
for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  as  good  a  government  as 
can  be  imposed   upon   them   from   without. 

Before  visiting  the 
Philippines,  I  advo- 
cated independence 
on  the  broad  ground 
tli;it  all  people  arc 
capable  of  self-gov- 
ernment— no!  thai 
all  people,  if  left  to 
themselves,  w  o  u  1  <1 
maintain  govern- 
ments equally  good, 
or  that  all  people  arc 
capable  of  participat- 
ing upon  equal  terms 
in  the  maintenance 
of  the  .same  govern- 
ment, but  that  all 
people  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with 
capacity  to  establish 
and  maintain  a  gov- 
ernment suited  to 
their  own  needs  and 
sufficient  for  their 
own  require!  i  icnt-. 
To  deny  this  propo- 
sition would,  as  Henry  Clay  suggested  more  than  half  a  century  ago, 
be  to  impeach  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  the  Creator.  I  advocated 
independence  for  another  reason,  viz.,  because  a  refusal  to  admit  the 
Filipinos  capable  of  self-government  would  tend  to  impair  the  strength 
of  the  doctrine  of  self-government  when  applied  to  our  own  people. 
Since  becoming  acquainted  with  the  Filipinos  I  can  argue  from  obser- 
vation as  well  as  from  theory,  and  T  insist  that  the  Filipinos  are  capable 
of  maintaining U  stable  government  without  supervision  from  without. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  they  could  maintain  their  independence,  if 
attacked  by  some  great  land-grabbing  power  (it  would  be  easier  to 
protect  them  from  aggression  if  they  were  independent,  for  then  they 


DR.    G.    APACIBLE. 


192  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

would  be  interested  with  us  against  the  attacking  party),  but  that  so 
far  as  their  own  internal  affairs  are  concerned,  they  do  not  need  to 
be  subject  to  any  alien  government.  There  is  a  wide  difference,  it  is 
true,  between  the  general  intelligence  of  the  educated  Filipino  and 
the  intelligence  of  the  laborer  on  the  street  and  in  the  field,  but  this 
is  not  a  barrier  to  self-government.  Intelligence  controls  in  every 
government,  except  where  it  is  suppressed  by  military  force.  "Where 
all  the  people  vote,  the  intelligent  man  has  more  influence  than  the 
unintelligent  one,  and  where  there  is  an  obvious  inequality,  a  suffrage 
qualification  usually  excludes  the  more  ignorant. 

Take  the  case  of  the  Japanese  for  instance,  no  one  is  disposed  to 
question  their  ability  to  govern  themselves,  and  yet  the  suffrage  quali- 
fications are  such  that  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  adult  males  are 
permitted  to  vote.  Nine-tenths  of  the  Japanese  have  no  part  in  the 
law  making,  either  directly  or  through  representatives,  and  still 
Japan  is  the  marvel  of  the  present  generation.  In  Mexico  the  gap 
between  the  educated  classes  and  the  peons  is  fully  as  great,  if  not 
greater,  than  the  gap  between  the  extremes  of  Filipino  society,  and 
yet  Mexico  is  maintaining  a  stable  government,  and  no  party  in  the 
United  States  advocates  our  making  a  colony  of  Mexico  on  the  theory 
that  she  cannot  govern  herself. 

Those  who  question  the  capacity  of  the  Filipinos  for  self-govern- 
ment overlook  the  stimulating  influence  of  self-government  upon  the 
people;  they  forget  that  responsibility  is  an  educating  influence  and 
that  patriotism  raises  up  persons  fitted  for  the  work  that  needs  to  be 
done.  Those  who  speak  contemptuously  of  the  capacity  of  the  Fili- 
pinos, ignore  the  fact  that  they  were  fighting  for  self-gcvernment 
before  the  majority  of  our  people  knew  where  the  Philippine  islands 
were.  Two  years  before  our  war  with  Spain,  Rizal  was  put  to  death 
because  of  his  advocacy  of  larger  liberty  for  his  people,  and  after 
witnessing  the  celebration  of  the  ninth  anniversary  of  his  death,  I 
cannot  doubt  that  his  martyrdom  would  be  potent  to  stir  the  hearts 
of  coming  generations  whenever  any  government,  foreign  or  domes- 
tic, disregarded  the  rights  of  the  people. 

A  year  before  our  war  with  Spain  the  Filipino  people  were  in 
insurrection  against  that  country,  and  they  demanded  among  other 
things  "parliamentary  representation,  freedom  of  the  press,  toleration 
of  all  religious  sects,  laws  common  with  hers,  and  administrative  and 
economic  autonomy." 

Here  was  a  recognition  of  the  doctrine  of  self-government  and  a 
recognition  of  the  freedom  of  the  press  as  the  bulwark  of  liberty. 


THE    PHILIPPINE    PROBLEM 


193 


There  was  also  a  demand  for  freedom  of  conscience  and  the  right  to 
administer  their  own  affairs  for  their  own  interests.  In  the  proclama- 
tion from  which  I  have  quoted  there  was  no  demand  for  independ- 
ence, but  it  must  be  remembered  that  wo  did  not  demand  independ- 
ence from  England  until  after  we  found  it  was  impossible  to  secure 
justice  under  a  colonial  system. 

Whether  by  the  demand  for  "laws  common  with  hers"  the  Filipinos 
meant  that  they  wanted  the  protection  of  laws  made  by  the  Spanish 
for  themselves,  I  do  not  know.  If  that  is  the  meaning  of  their 
demand,  they  must  be  credited  witli  understanding  the  importance 
of  a  principle  to  which  some  of  our  own  public  men  seem  to  be  blind. 


PLOWING    IN    SULU    LAND. 


The  evil  of  a  colonial  policy,  the  gross  injustice  of  it,  arises  largely 
from  the  fact  that  the  colony  is  governed  by  laws  made  for  it,  but 
not  binding  upon  the  country  which  makes  the  laws.  The  Mexican 
who  does  not  participate  in  the  making  of  the  laws  of  his  country  has 
at  least  the  protection  of  living  under  laws  which  bind  the  maker 
as  well  as  himself.  So  with  the  colored  man  of  the  south  who  does 
not  vote,  the  laws  which  he  must  obey  must  be  obeyed  by  those  who 
do  vote,  and  the  taxes  which  he  pays  must  be  paid  also  by  those 
who  enjoy  the  franchise. 

But  under  a  colonial  system  the  subject  must  obey  a  law  made  for 
him  by  one  who  is  not  himself  subject  to  the  law.     The  distinction 


194  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

is  >(>  plain  thai   it  oughl  'to  be  apparent  to  anyone  upon  a  moment's 
thought. 

If  it  is  objected  that  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  Filipino-  art 
educated,  it  may  be  answered  that  the  number  of  the  educated  La 
increasing  every  day.  The  fact  that  the  Filipinos  support  the  school- 
so  enthusiastically,  even  when  those  schools  are  established  by  out- 
siders and  when  the  teaching  is  in  a  language  strange  to  them,  speak.- 
eloquently  in  their  behalf.  Nor  is  this  a  new-born  zeal.  The 
Aguinaldo  government  provided  for  public  schools  and,  cock  fighting 
being  prohibited,  cock  pits  were  actually  turned  into  school  houses  in 
some  sections  over  which  the  authority  of  his  government  extended. 

It  is  objected  by  some  that  the  intelligent  Filipinos  would,  under 
independence,  use  the  instrumentalities  of  government  to  tyrannize 
over  the  masses.  This  is  not  a  new  argument;  it  is  always  employed 
where  an  excuse  for  outside  interference  is  desired,  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Filipinos  would  be  less  interested  in  the 
people  of  their  own  race  and  blood  than  are  aliens  whose  salaries  are 
so  large  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  claim  that  they  serve  from 
purely  altruistic  motives. 

That  those  in  power  in  Washington  contemplate  independence 
must  be  admitted,  unless  those  who  speak  for  the  administration  intend 
gross  deception.  In  his  speech  on  the  evening  of  Rizal  Day,  Decem- 
ber last,  General  Smith,  one  of  the  Philippine  commission  and  head 
of  the  educational  department,*  said:  "Popular  self-government  for 
the  Philip] lines  is  the  purpose  of  both  people.  If  either  seeks  to 
achieve  it  independent  of  the  other,  the  experiment  is  doomed  to  fail- 
ure. If  both  work  for  it  harmoniously  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  accomplished.  If  it  is  accomplished,  the  history  of  the 
Philippines  will  hold  no  brighter  page  than  that  which  recites  the 
struggle  of  a  simple  people  to  fit  themselves  for  independent  govern- 
ment. If  it  is  accomplished,  the  fairest  page  in  American  history 
will  be  that  which  records  the  creation  of  a  new  nation  and  the  unsel- 
fish development  of  an  alien  race."  If  this  is  not  a  promise  of  ulti- 
mate independence,  what  possible  meaning  can  the  language  have? 
If  the  administration  does  not  intend  that  the  Filipinos  shall  some 
day  be  independent,  its  representatives  should  not  hold  out  this  hope. 

But  there  is  even  higher  authority  for  the  hope  of  independence. 

When  the  so-called  "Taft  Party"  visited  the  Philippines  last  summer, 

Secretary  Taft  made  a  speech  in  which  he  assumed  to  speak  for  the 

president.     Referring    to    the    president's    opinion,    he    said:      "He 

♦General  Smith  has  since  been  made  the  president  of  the  Philippine  commission. 


THE    IMIILII'IMNK    PROBLEM 


I9r 


believes,  as  L  believe  and  as  do  mosl  Americans  who  have  had  ureal 
familiarity  with  the  facts,  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  hope 
that  the  lessons  which  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  Stale-  to  teach  the 
whole  Filipino  people,  can  be  Learned  by  them,  as  a  body,  in  less 
than  a  generation;  and  that  the  probability  is  that  it  will  lake  a 
longer  period  in  which  to  render  them  capable  of  establishing  and 
maintaining  a  stable   independenl   government." 

This,  iti  is  true,  slates  when  independence  cannot  be  hoped  for, 
rather  than  when  it.  can  be  hoped  for.  and  yet,  no  honest  man  would 
ust'  (he  language  Secretary  Tafl  employed  without  having  in  hi.-  mind 
the  idea,  that  independence  would  be  granted  at  some  future  date. 
But  his  concluding  words  even  more  clearly  present  the  hope  of  ulti- 
mate independence,  for  he  says:  "All  that  can  be  asserted  is  thai 
the   policy   which    has  several    times   been   authoritatively   stated,    thai 


SAILING    IN     MANILA    BAY. 


this  Filipino  government  shall  be  carried  on  solely  for  the  henefit 
of  the  Filipino  people  and  that  self-government  shall  he  extended  to 
the  Filipino  people,  as  .speedily  as  they  show  themselves  fitted  to 
assume  and  exercise  it,  must  be  pursued  consistently  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States  or  else  they  shall  forfeit  their  honor." 

Here  Secretary  Taft  pledges  the  American  government  as  far  as 
he  has  power  to  pledge  it — and  he  pledges  the  president  also — to 
extend  self-government  to  the  Filipinos  as  rapidly  as  they  show  them- 
selves fitted  for  it.  The  great  trouble  about  these  utterances  and 
similar  ones  is  that  they  are  not  binding  upon  the  government,  and 
the  Filipinos  are  constantly  disturbed  by  doubts  and  fears.  Both 
at  Manila  and  in  the  United  States  ridicule  is  often  cast  upon   the 


X 


196  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

aspirations  of  the  Filipino  people,  and  plans  are  made  which  are 
inconsistent  with  ultimate  independence.  The  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  commission  to  issue  perpetual  franchises  is  naturally,  and  I 
think  rightfully,  opposed  by  all  Filipinos.  If  our  occupation  is  to 
be  temporary,  why  should  our  legislation  be  permanent?  Why  bind 
the  -ward  in  perpetuity  so  that  he  cannot  control  his  own  affairs  when 
he  reaches  years  of  maturity?  What  is  needed  is  an  immediate 
declaration  of  the  nation's  purpose  to  recognize  the  independence  of 
the  Filipinos  when  a  stable  government  is  established.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  a  definite  time  shall  be  stated,  nor  is  it  so  important 
just  when  the  Filipinos  are  to  have  their  independence,  as  it  is  that 
the  nation's  purpose  shall  lie  made  known  in  an  authoritative  way 
and  that  the  subsequent  acts  of  our  government  shall  be  in  harmony 
with  that  declaration.  I  believe  that  a  stable  government  can  be 
established  within  a  short  time  and  that  independence  could  be 
granted  with  advantage  to  our  government  and  with  safety  to  the 
Filipinos  within  five  years  at  the  farthest.  But  whether  independence 
i.-  to  be  granted  in  five  or  ten  or  fifteen  years  or  after  a  longer  period, 
there  should  be  no  longer  delay  about  announcing  a  policy.  I  have 
tried  to  impress  upon  the  Filipinos  the  necessity  of  leaving  this  ques- 
tion to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  the  importance  of  proving 
in  every  possible  way  the  virtues,  the  character  and  the  progress  of 
the  people;  I  have  pointed  out  the  folly  of  insurrection  and  the 
damage  done  to  their  cause  by  resorting  to.  force  of  arms,  but  I  am 
equally  anxious  to  impress  upon  my  own  countrymen  the  importance 
of  dealing  frankly  and  fairly  with  the  Filipinos. 

We  have  more  at  stake  in  this  matter  than  have  the  Filipinos. 
They  still  have  their  national  greatness  to  achieve;  our  position  is 
already  established.  We  have  the  greatest  republic  known  to  history; 
we  are  the  foremost  champion  of  the  doctrine  of  self-government  and 
one  of  the  leading  exponents  of  Christianity.  We  can  afford,  aye  our 
honor  requires  us,  to  be  candid  with  the  Filipinos  and  to  take  them 
into  our  confidence.  We  dare  not  make  them  victims  of  commercial 
greed  or  use  their  islands  for  purely  selfish  purposes.  It  is  high 
time  to  announce  a  purpose  that  shall  be  righteous  and  to  carry 
out  that  purpose  by  means  that  shall  be  honorable.  In  my  next 
article  I  shall  endeavor  to  elaborate-  a  plan  which  will,  in  my  judg- 
ment, bring  independence  to  the  Filipinos,  relieve  us  of  the  expense 
of  colonialism,  secure  us  every  legitimate  advantage  which  could  be 
•  •xpected  from  a  permanent  occupation  of  the  islands  and,  in  addi- 
tion, enable  our  nation  to  set  the  world  an  example  in  dealing  with 
tropical  race-. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  PHILIPPINE  PROBLEM— Continued. 

In  speaking  of  the  Philippine  independence  I  have  presented  some 
of  the  reasons  given  by  Filipinos  for  desiring  it,  bu1  there  are  argu- 
ments which  ought  to  appeal  especially  to  Americans.  Tf  it  were 
our  duty  to  maintain  a  colonial  policy,  no  argument  could  be  made 
against  it,  because  duties  are  imperative  and  never  conflict.  If.  on 
the  other  hand  the  Filipinos  desire  independence  and  are  capable  of 
self-government,  we  cannot  justify  the  retention  of  the  islands  mile-- 
we  are  prepared  to  put  our  own  interests  above  theirs,  and  even  then 
we  must  be  satisfied  that  our  interests  will  be  advanced  by  a  colonial 
policy. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  controversy  there  were  many  who  believed 
that  the  Philippine  Islands  would  become  a  source  of  profit  to  the 
United  States.  It  was  confidently  predicted  that  a  multitude  of 
Americans  would  flock  to  the  islands  and  find  rich  reward  in  the 
development  of  their  resources.  These  hopes  have  not  been  realized. 
Except  in  Mindanao,  of  which  I  shall  speak  later,  there  is  no  evidence 
of  any  present  or  future  colonization  by  Americans.  There  are  a  few 
Americans  engaged  in  business  in  Manila  and  at  other  army  posts,  but 
these  are  insignificant  in  number  and  the  business  done  by  them  is 
nothing  as  compared  with  the  cost  of  colonialism  to  the  United  States. 
We  are  maintaining  about  twelve  thousand  American  soldiers  in  the 
island  and  five  thousand  native  scouts,  officered  by  Americans  and 
paid  for  by  the  United  States.  Besides  this  outlay  for  the  army, 
our  Philippine  policy  has  been  made  the  excuse  for  a  large  increase 
in  our  naval  expenditures.  "While  it  is  difficult  to  determine  accu- 
rately the  annual  cost  of  our  Philippine  policy  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  exceeds  the  value  of  all  the 
merchandise  that  we  export  to  the  Philippine  Islands  and  all  the 
money  made  by  Americans  in  the  islands,  including  salaries  paid  to 
Americans  from  taxes  collected  in  the  Philippines — and  the  expenses 

197 


•198 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


are  borne  by  all  the  people  while  the  benefits  are  received  by  a  mere 
handful.  No  one,  therefore,  can  justify  the  holding  of  the  Philippines 
on  the  ground  that  they  are  a  pecuniary  advantage. 

If  it  is  argued  that,  we  need  the  Philippine  Islands  as  a  base  for  the 
extension  of  our  trade  in  the  Orient,  I  answer  that  it  is  not  necessary 
to  deny  the  Filipinos  independence  in  order  to  hold  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  harbors  and  coaling  stations  to  answer  all  the  requirements 
of  trade  The  Filipinos  are  not  only  anxious  to  have  the  advantage 
of  our  protection,  but  they  recognize  that  to  protect  them  we  must 
have  harbors  and  a.  naval  base.  In  return  for  the  services  we  have 
rendered  them  we  have  a  right  to  ask,  and  they  would  gladly  grant, 
such  reservations  as  we  need.     These  reservations  could  be  properly 


CARABAO  CART  AND  DRIVER. 

fortified  and  would  furnish  coaling  stations  both  for  our  navy  and  for 
our  merchant  marine.  It  goes  without  saying  that  in  case  we  had 
war  with  an  oriental  nation,  it  would  be  infinitely  better  to  have  the 
Filipinos  supporting  us,  in  their  own  interest  as  well  as  out  of  grati- 
tude, than  to  have  them  awaiting  an  opportunity  for  insurrection. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  danger  which  may  come  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  self-government  in  the  United  States  from  the  systematic- 
denial  of  self-government  to  the  Filipinos.  As  our  officials  can  only 
explain  their  continued  presence  in  the  Philippines  by  alleging  inca- 
pacity in  the  Filipinos,  they  find  themselves  unconsciously  surrender- 
ing the  governmental  theories  which  were  until  recently  universally 
accepted    in    our   country.      We   cannot   overlook    the   influence   that 


THE    PHILIPPINE    PROBLEM 


L99 


these  changed  opinions  may  have  upon  the  politics  of  our  own  coun- 
try if  a  colonial  policy  i.s  indefinitely  continued. 

Neither  can  we  ignore  the  fact  thai  our  prestige  as  a  teacher  of  the 
principles  of  republican  government  must  be  impaired  if  we  hold 
colonies  under  the  law  of  force  and  defend  ourselves  by  using  th<- 
arguments  employed  by  kings  and  emperors  as  an  excuse  for  denying 
self -government  to  their  own  people.  We  cannot  preach  thai  govern- 
ments derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed  and 
at  the  same  time  adopt  a  different  principle  in  practice. 

It  is  worth  while  also  to  remember  that  foreign  service  is  more  or 
less  demoralizing  to  our  troops.     Our  soldiers  are  good,  average  men, 


HARVESTING  SUGAR  CANE. 

but  all  men  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  environment,  and  our 
soldiers  cannot  be  expected  to  maintain  as  high  a  standard  of  moral- 
ity when  far  away  from  home  and  the  influences  of  home,  as  when 
their  good  purposes  are  strengthened  by  the  presence  of  mothers,  sis- 
ters and  friends.  The  hospital  records  show  the  extent  to  which  our 
soldiers  yield  to  the  temptations,  which  surround  the  post,  and  the 
saloons  that  follow  our  army  speak  forcibly  of  the  dangers  which 
attend  foreign  service.  Can  we  afford  to  subject  the  morals  of  our 
young  men  to  such  severe  tests  unless  there  is  some  national  gam 
commensurate  with  the  loss? 


200 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


If  our  nation  would  at  once  declare  its  intention  to  treat  the  Fili- 
pinos living  north  of  Mindanao  as  it  treated  the  Cubans,  and  then 
proceed,  first,  to  establish  a  stable  government,  patterned  after  our 
own;  second,  to  convert  that  government  into  a  native  government 
by  the  substitution  of  Filipino  for  American  officials  as  rapidly  as 
possible;  third,  to  grant  independence  to  the  Filipinos,  reserving  such 
harbors  and  naval  stations  as  may  be  thought  necessary;  and,  fourth, 
to  announce  its  purpose  to  protect  the  Filipinos  from  outside  inter- 
ferences while  they  work  out  their  destiny — if  our  nation  wTould  do 
this,  it  would  save  a  large  annual  expense,  protect  its  trade  interests, 
gratify  the  just  ambition  of  the  Filipinos  for  national  existence  and 
repeat  the  moral  victory  won  in  Cuba. 


THE   RICE   HARVEST. 


In  return  for  protection  from  without,  the  Filipinos  would  agree, 
as  the. Cubans  did,  that  in  their  dealings  with  other  nations  they 
would  not  embarrass  us. 

The  reservations  retained  could  be  converted  into  centers  for  the 
extension  of  American  influence  and  American  ideals,  and  our  nation 
would  increase  its  importance  as  a  real  world  power.  Unless  our 
religion  and  our  philosophy  are  entirely  wrong,  moral  forces  are 
more  permanent  and,  in  the  end,  more  potent  than  physical  force, 
and  our  nation  has  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  a  nation's  greatness, 
like  the  greatness  of  an  individual,  is  measured  by  service.  It  also 
has  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  the  Oriental  can  be  led  by  advice  and 


THE    PHILIPPINE    PROBLEM  201 

improved  by  example  and  does  not  need  to  be  coerced  by  military 
power. 

Our  reservations  ought  to  contain  model  schools,  with  a  central 
college,  experimental  farms  and  institutions  in  which  the  people  could 
be  trained  in  the  arts  and  industries  most  suited  to  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country.  Our  nation  is  unfitted  by  history  and  by 
tradition  to  exploit  the  tropical  countries  according  to  the  methods 
employed  by  the  monarchies  of  Europe.  To  hold  people  in  subjec- 
tion requires  a  large  military  expenditure;  if  we  were  to  attempt  to 
make  our  own  people  bear  such  a  burden,  they  would  soon  protest; 
if  we  were  to  make  the  Filipinos  bear  it,  it  would  crush  them.  The 
Filipinos  would  resist  such  a  policy,  if  employed  by  us,  more  bitterly 
than  if  it  were  employed  by  a  European  country,  because  they  have 
learned  from  us  the  lessons  of  liberty.  Subject  peoples  are  not  will- 
ing laborers,  and  our  country  would  not  endorse  a  system  of  compul- 
sory labor.  Education,  too,  is  inconsistent  with  a  permanent  colonial 
system  and  cannot  be  carried  far  without  danger  to  the  ruling  power. 

We  must  choose,  therefore,  between  two  policies,  and  the  sooner 
the  choice  is'made,  the  better.  As  we  cannot  adopt  the  European 
policy  without  a  radical  departure  from  our  ideals,  and  ultimately 
from  our  form  of  government  at  home,  we  are  virtually  forced  to 
adopt  a  plan  distinctly  American — a  plan  in  which  advice,  example 
and  helpfulness  shall  be  employed  as  means  of  reaching  the  native 
heart.  Some  of  the  European  nations  have  been  content  to  seize  land 
and  develop  it  with  European  capital  and  Chinese  labor;  our  plan 
must  be  to  develop  the  natives  themselves  by  showing  them  better 
methods  and  by  opening  before  them  a  wider  horizon.  At  our  res- 
ervations there  would  be  religious  freedom,  freedom  of  speech,  free- 
dom of  the  press,  self-government  and  public  instruction  for  all,  and 
every  uplifting  influence  would  have  free  play.  If  we  believe  that 
right  makes  might  and  that  truth  has  within  itself  a  propagating 
power,  we  cannot  doubt  the  spread  of  American  civilization  from 
these  American   centers. 

While  the  Philippine  Islands  are  under  American  authority,  the 
government  ought  to  be  administered  for  the  benefit  of  the  Filipinos, 
in  accordance  with  Secretary  Taft's  promise.  If  they  are  to  be  sub- 
ject to  our  tariff  laws  when  they  buy  of  other  nations,  they  ought  to 
have  free  trade  with  us,  but  the  Philippine  Islands  are  so  far  from  us 
that  it  would  be  more  just  to  allow  the  Philippine  tariff  to  be  made  by 
the  Philippine  assembly  soon  to  be  established.  The  Filipinos  belong  bo 


202  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

the  Orient  and  their  dealings  must  be  largely  with  the  countries  of 
the  Orient ;  unless  they  are  in  a  position  to  have  their  tariff  laws  con- 
form to  their  geographical  position,  there  must  necessarily  be  friction 
and  injustice. 

So  important  are  geographical  considerations  that  Americans  who 
see  fit  to  take  up  their  residence  upon  such  reservation  as  we  retain  for 
harbors,  coaling  stations  and  a  naval  base  ought  to  be  freed  from  the 
fetters  of  our  tariff  laws  and  shipping  laws.  I  even  venture  to  sug- 
gest the  creation  of  an  Oriental  territory,  to  be  composed  of  such  sta- 
tions  and  reservations  as  we  may  now  have  or  hereafter  acquire  in 
the  Orient.  This  territory  should  have  a  delegate  in  congress  like 
other  territories,  but  should  be  freed  by  constitutional  amendment 
from  our  tariff  laws  and  permitted  to  legislate  for  itself  upon  the 
subject.  It  could  thus  establish  free  ports,  if  it  chose,  and  give  to  its 
people  the  trade  advantages  enjoyed  by  those  who  live  in  Hong  Kong, 
Singapore  and  other  open  ports. 

In  what  I  have  said  about  independence  and  self-government  in 
the  Philippines,  I  have  been  speaking  of  Luzon  and  the  other  islands 
north  of  Mindanao.  As  I  have  already  pointed  out,  the  conditions 
existing  in  Mindanao  and  the  Sulu  archipelago  are  so  different  from 
those  existing  in  the  northern  islands  that  the  two  groups  should  be 
dealt  with  separately.  It  would  not  be  fair  to  deny  independence  to 
the  Christian  Filipinos  living  in  the  north  merely  because  the  Moros 
have  never  shown  any  desire  to  adopt  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment. (They  live  under  a  sort  of  feudal  system,  with  sultan  and  data 
as  the  ruling  lords.) 

But  while  the  work  of  establishing  a  stable  government  among  the 
Moros  is  a  more  difficult  one  and  will  proceed  more  slowly,  the  same 
principles  should  govern  it.  The  Moros  have  furnished  a  great  many 
pirates  for  the  southern  seas,  and  the  influence  of  the  adventurer  and 
free-booter  is  still  felt  in  More-land.  Then,  too,  they  have  an  unpleas- 
ant way  of  killing  Christians,  on  the  theory  that  by  doing  so  they 
not  only  insure  an  entrance  into  heaven,  but  earn  the  right  to  four 
wives  in  their  celestial"  home.  Occasionally  a  Moro  takes  an  oath  to 
die  killing  Christians  (he  is  called  a  juramentado) ,  and  after  a  season 
of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  generally  with  shaven  eyebrows,  he  goes 
forth  to  slay  until  he  himself  is  slain.  Besides  those  who  deliberately 
take  human  life  by  retail  or  by  wholesale,  there  are  religious  fanatics 
who  act  under  frenzy.  All  in  all,  the  Moro  country  is  far  below  the 
northern  islands  in  civilization  whether  the  civilization  is  measured 
by  a  material,  an  intellectual,  a  political  or  a  moral  standard.     But 


THE    PHILIPPINE    PROBLEM  203 

even  among  the  Moras  I  believe  it  is  possible  to  introduce  American 
ideas.  Already  sonic  progress  is  being  made  in  the  establishment  of 
schools,  and  Governor  Findley  has  succeeded  in  interesting  the  natives 
in  exchanges  where  trade  is  carried  on  according  to  American  metb 
ods.  While  polygamy  is  still  permitted,  slavery  is  being  exterminated 
and  the  natives  are  being  shown  the  advantage  of  free  Labor.  I  believe 
that  even  among  them  our  work  can  be  advanced  by  assuring  them 
of  ultimate  independence,  to  be  granted  as  soon  as  a  government  is 
established  capable  of  maintaining  order  and  enforcing  law.  \'>\ 
educating  young  Moros  and  then  using  them  in  official  position,  we 
can  convince  the  Moros  of  the  sincerity  of  our  friendship,  and  these 
officials  will  exert  an  increasing  influence  for  good.  In  the  mean- 
time, we  should  establish  experimental  stations  and  by  the  use  of 
native  labor  train  the  people  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  resources  of 
their  country.  I  believe  General  Wood  is  already  planning  for  an 
experimental  farm   near  Zamboanga, 

While  the  Moros  are  a  fierce  people  and  accustomed  to  bloodshed, 
they  have  enough  good  qualities  to  show  the  possibility  of  improve- 
ment. They" are  a  temperate  people,  abstaining  entirely  from  intoxi 
eating  liquors,  and  while  they  practice  polygamy  and  add  concu- 
binage to  plurality  of  wives,  they  carefully  guard  the  chastity  of  their 
women.  They  have  their  system  of  laws,  with  courts  for  the  investi- 
gation of  criminal  charges  and  for  the  imposition  of  fines.  The 
existing  code  in  the  Sulu  archipelago,  while  lamentably  below  our 
penal  code,  shows  a  desire  for  the  establishment  of  justice  betweei 
man  and  man.  Dr.  Saleeby  has  published  a  translation  of  the  exist- 
ing code,  together  with  the  code  (not  yet  adopted)  prepared  by  the 
present  prime  minister  of  the  sultan,  and  a  comparison  of  the  two 
shows  distinctly  that  American  influence  is  already  being  felt. 

While  I  do  not  believe  that  any  large  number  of  Americans  can 
be  induced  to  settle  permanently  in  Mindanao  (and  Mindanao  seems 
to  be  the  most  inviting  place),  there  will  be  ample  time  to  test  this 
question  while  a  government  is  being  established  among  the  Moros; 
It  is  more  likely  that  the  waste  lands  will  be  settled  upon  by  immi- 
grants from  the  northern  islands  and  that  in  time  the  Christian 
Filipinos  will  be  sufficiently  numerous  to  control  the  islands,  and 
they  can  then  be  ^annexed  to  the  northern  group. 

The  leaven  of  American  ideas  is  already  spreading.  At  Zamboanga 
wo  met  Datu  Mandi,  who  has  adopted  the  American  dress  and  opened 
one  of  his  buildings  for  a  Moro  school  for  girls.  He  is  manifesting 
an  increasing  interest  in  the  American  work.     Datu  Mandi's  brother 


204  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

was  one  of  the  Moros  taken  to  the  World's  Fair  and  he,  too,  has 
abandoned  the  native  dress.  I  have  already  referred  to  the  desire 
expressed  by  Datu  Piang  to  have  his  sons  attend  school  in  America. 
This  is  a  good  sign,  and  money  spent  in  educating  them  would  reduce 
military  expenditures  in  that  part  of  the  island.  The  sultan  of  Sulu 
also  wants  to  visit  America,  and  a  trip  would  do  him  more  good  than 
a  year's  salary.  As  soon  as  we  convince  these  people  that  our  purpose 
is  an  unselfish  one,  they  will  become  willing  pupils,  and  in  the  course 
of  time  they  will  find  the  home  more  congenial  than  the  harem  and 
the  ways  of  peace  more  pleasant  than  the  war  path. 

While  our  plans  should  be  unselfish,  they  wrould  probably  prove 
profitable  in  the  end,  for  friends  are  better  customers  than  enemies, 
and  our  trade  is  apt  to  develop  in  proportion  as  we  teach  the  natives 
to  live  as  we  do.  When  Solomon  'came  to  the  throne,  instead  of 
choosing  riches  or  long  life,  he  asked  for  wisdom  that  he  might  govern 
his  people  aright,  and  he  received  not  only  wisdom,  but  the  riches 
and  the  length  of  days  which-  he  had  regarded  as  less  important.  May 
we  not  expect  a  similar  reward  if  we  choose  the  better  part  and  put 
the  welfare  of  the  natives  above  our  own  gain? 

After  all,  the  test  question  is,  have  we  "faith  in  the  wisdom  of 
doing  right?"  Are  we  willing  to  trust  the  conscience  and  moral  sense 
of  those  whom  we  desire  to  aid? 

Individuals  have  put  Christianity  to  the  test  and  have  convinced 
themselves  that  benevolence,  unarmed,  is  mightier  than  selfishness 
equipped  with  sword  and  mail,  but  nations  have  as  yet  seldom  ven- 
tured to  embody  the  spirit  of  the  Nazarene  in  their  foreign  policy. 
Is  it  not  an  opportune  time  for  our  nation  to  make  the  trial?  Our 
president  has  recently  been  hailed  as  a  peacemaker  because  he  took 
the  initiative  in  terminating  a  great  war,  but  this  involved  no  sacrifice 
upon  our  part.  May  we  not  win  a  greater  victory  by  proving  our 
disinterested  concern  for  the  welfare  of  a  people  separated  from  us 
rot  only  by  vast  waters  but  by  race,  by  language  and  by  color? 

Carlyle  in  concluding  his  history  of  the  French  revolution  declared 
that  thought  is  stronger  than  artillery  parks  and  that  back  of  every 
great  thought  is  love.  This  is  a  lofty  platform,  but  not  too  lofty  for 
the  United  States  of  America. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

JAVA— THE  BEAUTIFUL-. 

We  had  not  thoughl  of  visiting  Java,  bul  we  heard  so  much  of  it 
from  returning  tourists  as  we  journeyed  through  Japan,  China  and  the 
Philippines,  thai  we  turned  aside  from  Singapore  and  devoted  two 
weeks  to  a  trip  through  the  island.  Steamers  run  to  both  Batavia 
(which  is  the  capital  and  the  metropolis  of  the  western  end  of  the  is- 
land) and  Soerabaja,  the  chief  city  of  eastern  .lava,  and  a  railroad 
about  four  hundred  miles  long  connects  these  two  cities.  A  tour  of  the 
islands  can  thus  be  made  in  from  ten  to  fifteen  days,  according  to  con- 
nections, but- unless  one  is  pressed  for  time,  he  can  profitably  employ 
a  month  or  more  in  this  little  island,  attractive  by  nature  and  made 
still  more  beautiful  by  the  hand  of  man.  There  are  excellent  hotels 
at  the  principal  stopping  places,  and  the  rates  are  more  moderate  than 
we  have  found  elsewhere  in  the  Orient. 

The  lover  of  mountain  scenery  finds  much  in  Java  to  satisfy. the  eye. 
The  railroad  from  Batavia  to  Soerabaja  twice  crosses  the  range,  and  as 
the  trains  run*only  in  the  day  time,  one  can,  without  leaving  the  cars, 
see  every  variety  of  tropical  growth,  from  swamp  to  mountain  top, 
from  cocoanut  groves  and  rice  fields  on  the  low  land  to  the  tea  gardens 
and  coffee  plantations  of  the  1  'gher  altitudes,  not  to  speak  of  mountain 
streams,  gorges  and  forests. 

Java  is  the  home  of  the  volcano  and  contains  more  of  these  fiery  res- 
ervoirs than  any  other  area  on  the  earth's  surface.  While  only  about  six 
hundred  miles  in  length  and  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
in  width,  it  has,  according  to  Wallace,  thirty-eight  volcanoes,  some  of 
them  still  smoking  and  all  of  them  interesting  relics  of  a  period  when 
the  whole  island  was  deluged  with  molten  lava.  Some  assert  that  aim'  isl 
all  of  Java  has  been  built  up  by  the  eruptions  of  volcanoes.  Two  extinct 
volcanoes,  Salak  and  Gedah,  can  be  seen  from  Buitenzorg,  and  from  the 
top  of  Boro  Boedoer  temple  nine  volcanoes  can  be  counted  when  the  air 
is  clear — at  least  Groneman  so  declares  in  his  description  of  this  temple, 
although  not  so  manv  were  visible  the  dav  we  visited  there. 

It  is  only  twenty-three  years  ago  that  Krakatau,  which  stands  upon 
an  island  of  the  same  name  in  the  Strait  of  Sunda,  just  off  the  east 
end  of  Java,  startled  the  world  with  an  eruption  seldom  equaled  in  his- 
tory. It  began  smoking  in  May,  1883,  and  continued  active  until  the 
26th  of  August  following,  when  explosions  took  place  which  were 
heard  at  Batavia,  eighty  miles  distant,  and  the  next  day  the  explosions 

205 


JAVA-  -THE  BEAUTIFUL 


20" 


were  still  more  gigantic,  being  audible  two  thousand  miles  away.  The 
loss  of  life  caused  by  the  mud  and  ashes  and  by  the  waves  set  in  motion 
by  the  eruption  was  officially  estimated  at  over  thirty-six  thousand. 
Various  scientific  societies,  especially  of  Holland.  England  and  France, 
made  exhaustive  reports  on  the  Krakatau  eruption.  The  Royal  Society 
of  Great  Britain  estimated  that  the  volume  of  -moke  arose  to  a  height 
of  seventeen  miles  and  thai  several  cubic  miles  of  mud,  lava,  and  stones 
poured  forth  from  the  crater  to  the  ruin  of  a  large  area.  At  one  place 
the  water  rose  more  than  seventy-five  feet  and  threw  a  steam-hip  over 
the  harbor-head  into  a  Chinese  market;  but  under  the  influence  of  a 
tropical  sun  and  abundant  moisture  the  slopes  of  the  volcano  soon  grew 
green  again,  and  now  the  natives  -peed  their  -kill-  through  the  adja- 


EXTINCT  VOLCANO,  SALAK 

cent  waters  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  volcanic  belt  live  and  move 
with  little  thought  of  the  mighty  force-  which  have  so  often  demon- 
strated their  powers  in  the  archipelago. 

If  one  i.s  interested  in  the  study  of  trees,  plant-  and  flowers  he  can 
employ  himself  indefinitely  in  the  famous  botanical  garden  in  Buiten- 
zorg.  While  Batavia  is  the  normal  capital  of  Netherlands  India,  the 
governor  general  live-  at  Buitenzorg — -a  city  built  on  a  mountain  slope 
forty  miles  from  Batavia.  where  an  altitude  of  some  -even  hundred  feet 
gives  an  average  temperature  of  eight  degrees  below  that  of  the  sea 
level.  The  botanical  garden  surrounds  the  palace  and  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury the  authorities  have  been  collecting  specimens  of  the  flora  of  the 
tropics. 


208  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 

The  present  superintendent  of  the  garden,  Herr  Wigman,  is  an 
enthusiast  in  his  line,  and  we  are  indebted  to  him  for  a  most  enjoyable 
tour  through  the  garden.  The  main  entrance  leads  through  an  avei tue 
of  gigantic  kanari  trees,  set  some  forty  feet  apart  and  forming  a  verdant 
roof  that  entirely  excludes  the  sun.  The  officials  believe  that  they  have 
made  this  the  most  attractive  driveway  in  the  world,  and  so  far  as  my 
observation  goes,  they  are»justified  in  their  claim.  Climbing  vine-  of 
every  variety  have  been  trained  upon  these  trees  until  their  enormous 
trunks  stand  like  so  many  columns  draped  in  living  green.  One  climb- 
ing vine,  with  "a  trunk  which  one  would  mistake  for  a  tree  if  it  stood 
alone,  has  festooned  a  row  of  trees  three  hundred  feet  long  and  is  still 
reaching  out  for  new  conquests.  Herr  Wigman  shows  this  monster  vine 
with  pardonable  pride,  but  he  has  found  on  his  visits  to  Europe  that  he 
could  not  give  a  truthful  description  of  it  without  endangering  his  rep- 
utation for  veracity.  We  saw,  here,  also,  rattan  vines  of  seemingly  end- 
less length,  hanging  from  lofty  limbs  or  coiling  on  the  ground  like  a 
colony  of  serpents.  A  specialty  has  been  made  of  orchids,  as  is  evi- 
denced by  a  collection  of  between  two  and  three  thousand  varieties. 
Some  of  these  are  remarkable  for  their  curious  and  variegated  leaves, 
others  for  the  beauty  and  delicacy  of  the  flowers.  We  were  shown  three 
kinds  of  pitcher  plants;  one  kind  is  fashioned  like  a  rat  trap,  the  tiny 
spines  pointing  downward  so  that  the  insect  can  enter  but  can  not 
-  pe  until  the  flower  withers;  another  drowns  his  victims  in  a  syrup- 
like water;  while  a  third  poisons  the  unlucky  prisoners  lured  into  the 
recesses  of  the  blossoms.  Several  plants  growing  on  tree  trunks  have 
porous  bulbs  which  seem  to  be  designed  for  ant  houses;  at  any  rate  the 
ants  an1  always  found  in  them.  By  an  admirable  reciprocity  the  ants 
pay  their  house  rent  by  protecting  the  plants  from  other  insects.  Some 
of  the  European  nations  have  defended  their  occupation  of  Oriental 
countries  on  the  same  theory,  viz.,  that  they  give  protection  in  exchange 
for  a  domicile,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  ant  lives  on  the  plant, 
while  colonialism  is  always  a  burden  to  the  natives. 

In  the  botanical  garden,  as  elsewhere  in  the  island,  are  to  be  found 
all  varieties  of  the  palm — the  royal  palm,  than  which  there  is  no  more 
ornamental  tree,  the  cocoanut  palm,  with  its  myriad  uses,  the  sugar 
palm,  the  sago  palm,  the  oil  palm,  the  betel-nut  palm,  which  furnishes 
the  Malay  a  substitute  for  chewing  tobacco,  the  nipa  palm,  so  helpful 
in  building,  the  fan  palm,  etc.,  etc. 

Nature  has  been  prodigal  in  her  gifts  to  the  people  of  the  tropics,  and 
besides  giving  plant  life  in  confusing  abundance,  her  generosity  is 
shown  in  a  number  of  trees,  each  of  which  can  be  put  to  many  uses. 


JAVA— Till';  BEAUTIFUL  209 

Reference  was  made  to  the  bamboo  in  one  of  the  articles  on  Japan,  but 
the  Javanese  have  not  only  the  bamboo,  but  the  palm  as  well,  and 
from  this  one  tree  they  could  build  their  houses  (though  the  bamboo 

is  usually  used  for  frames  and  floors  because  it  is  lighter,  the  trunk 
of  the  palm  might  be  employed )  and  secure  food,  drink  and  light,  and 
in  addition,  a  fermented  liquor  and  a  narcotic. 

The  lakes  and  pools  of  the  Buitenzorg  garden  teem  with  lotus  and 
water  lilies  of  many  colors.  One  variety,  broughl  from  New  Guinea, 
has  blue  flowers  of  various  shades  and  i-  a.-  yel  unknown  in  Europe  and 
America.  One  water  lily  has  enormous  flat,  circular  leave-  with  the 
edges  turned  up  like  a  pie  pan.  Some  of  these  leaves  are  four  feet  in 
diameter,  and  an  imaginative  writer  has  pictured  them  as  frying  pans 
on  which  the  natives  bake  hot  cakes. 

The  papyrus,  from  which  the  ancient  Egyptians  made  their  paper, 
grows  here,  though  it  is  no  longer  found  in  Egypt.  Here,  too,  are  flow- 
ering trees  and  shrubs  of  many  kinds,  one  whose  pods  are  so  exactly 
like  tallow  candles  that  it  is  called  the  candle  tree.  But  it  would 
occupy  more  space  than  I  have  at  my  disposal  to  give  an  adequate 
description  ofihe  beauties  of  the  garden,  with  its  mighty  banyan  tree.-, 
its  'waving  palms,  its  graceful  bamboos,  its  odorous  sandalwood  and 
tangled  vines,  its  rose  garden,  its  depth  of  shade  and  wealth  of  bloom, 
its  upas  tree  (not  deadly,  however,  as  tradition  has  it,  but  quite  inno- 
cent of  any  criminal  intent),  its  winding  ways  and  really  moss-grown 
paths  and  its  secluded  little  cemetery  where  rest  those  members  of 
the  families  of  the  governors  who  died  on  the  island.  Xo  wonder 
Buitenzorg  is  the  Mecca  of  the  botanist  and  the  one  spot  never  neg- 
lected by  even  the  casual  tourist  in  the  island. 

Java  reminds  one  of  Japan  in  the  appearance  of  its  rice  fields,  its 
cultivated  hills  and  its  terraced  mountain  sides.  Though  the  island  is 
diminutive  in  area,  containing  a  little  less  than  forty  thousand  square 
miles,  half  of  which  is  tillable,  the  land  is  so  wisely  used  that  it  sup- 
ports a  population  of  28,000,000.  With  so  many  mountains  and 
with  a  rainfall  amounting  to  ten  feet  per  annum  in  some  place.-,  the 
island  has,  as  might  be  expected,  an  abundance  of  springs  and  running 
streams,  and  these  make  possible  a  very  perfect  system  of  irrigation 
which  has  converted  Java  into  a  vasl  garden.  Sugar  is  the  chief  export, 
followed  by  tea,  coffee  and  copra,  although  rice  is  the  product  to  which 
most  attention  is  given.  It  is  the  chief  article  of  food,  and  so  much  is 
required  to  support  the  dense  population  that  its  importance  as  a  crop 
is  not  indicated  by  its  place  in  the  table  of  exports. 

As  a  traveler  is  more  impressed  by  the  unusual  things  than  by  the 


< 


< 
> 

< 

»-5 


JAVA  -THE  BEAUTIFUL  211 

things  with  which  he  is  familiar,  one  who  visits  Java  immediately 
notices  the  numerous  fruits  peculiar  to  the  island.  They  have  here  all 
of  the  fruits  usually  found  in  tropical  countries  and  several  that  are 
not  found  elsewhere.  The  pineapple  grows  in  perfection  and  can  be 
bought  in  tlif  inarkel  for  aboul  a  cenl  apiece.  The  Java  orange  is  not 
equal  in  taste  or  variety  to  those  of  California  or  Florida,  bul  the 
banana,  of  which  there  are  more  than  a  hundred  varieties,  makes  up 
for  the  deficiency.  Mrs.  Scidmore,  in  her  book  on  Java,  is  authority 
for  the  statemenl  thai  four  thousand  pounds  of  bananas  will  grow  on 
the  space  required  to  produce  ninety-nine  pound-  of  potatoes  or  thirty- 
three  pounds  of  wheat;  if  her  calculation  is  correct  and  the  ratio  of 
productiveness  anything  like  the  same  in  the  case  of  other  fruit,  one 
can  understand  why  the  problem  of  living  is  so  simplified  in  warm 
countries.  A  fruit  closely  allied  to  our  grape-fruit  is  found  here  a  vari- 
ety of  which  grows  in^China  and  Japan.  "Flic  papaya,  which  wo  first 
tasted  in  Honolulu,  the  mango,  whose  season  had  passed  in  the  Phil- 
ippines, the  sour  manila  and  the  durian  are  all  to  be  bought  in  the 
market  here.  The  last  named  fruit  has  succeeded  in  arraying  into 
ardent  friends  and  unsparing  critics  the  tourists  who  have  ventured  to 
eat  it.  Some  declare  that  it  is  delicious,  while  others  can  not  bear  the 
taste,  and  all  agree  that  the  odor  is  exceedingly  repulsive.  It  is  rough- 
skinned,  very  large,  sometime-  weighing  ten  or  fifteen  pounds,  and 
resembles  in  appearance  both  the  bread  fruit  and  the  nangka. 

Among  the  fruits  which  we  have  tasted  for  the  first  time  the  man- 
go-teen and  the  rambutan  are  rivals  in  popularity.  The  first  is  a  deli- 
cately flavored,  orange-shaped  morsel  of  pure  white,  encased  in  a  thick 
hull  of  deep  red.  It  melt-  in  the  mouth,  and  leaves  a  memory  of 
mingled  flavors.  Its  fame  has  spread  abroad,  and  there  was  for  year-  a 
standing  offer  of  thirty  pounds  to  anyone  who  would  put  Queen  Vic- 
toria in  possession  of  a  ripe  mango-teen,  but  it  decay-  so  quickly  that 
not  even  ice  will  preserve  it  during  a  long  sea  voyage.  The  rambutan 
has  not  received  as  much  praise  as  the  mangosteen,  but  I  am  not  sure 
but  that  it  is  superior  for  continuous  use.  The  word  rambutan  means 
hairy,  and  the  name  was  given  to  this  fruit  because  it  has  a  covering 
something  like  a  chestnut  burr,  except  that  the  so-called  hairs  are  sofl 
instead  of  spine-like.  There  is  a  variety  of  rambutan  which  has  a 
smoother  covering  without  the  hair-like  projections,  and  this  is  very 
appropriately  called  the  kapoelassen  (which  mean-  bald)  rambutan. 
The  usual  color  of  the  covering  i<  a.  bright  crimson,  but  there  are  sev- 
eral different  shades,  and  the  tree-  present  a  very  attractive  appearance 
when  laden  with  ripe  fruit.     The  pulp  of  the  rambutan   resembles  a 


212  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 

pigeon's  egg  in  size  and  shape  and  contains  a  single  seed.  The  flavor 
is  half  tart,  half  sweet,  and  recalls  all  the  good  things  one  has  ever 
tasted. 

Another  Javanese  fruit  is  the  doekoe,  which  on  the  outside  looks  like 
an  apricot,  but  is  divided  into  sections  like  an  orange  and  has  a  taste 
peculiarly  its  own.  The  jamboa,  or  Java  apple,  is  conical  in  shape  and 
has  a  white  wax  appearance.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  the 
variety  of  fruits  exposed  for  sale  on  the  street  and  peddled  at  railway 
stations.  The  natives  usually  carry  an  assortment  of  fruit  as  they  go 
to  or  return  from  market,  and  the  floor  of  the  third-class  railroad 
coaches  are  always  littered  with  rinds  and  peelings.  Verily,  one  can 
revel  in  fruit  to  his  heart's  content  in  Java. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  days  that  we  spent  in  Java  was  devoted 
to  a  trip  to  Boro  Boedoer,  the  great  Hindu  temple  near  Djokjakarta. 
Leaving  the  through  train  at  this  station  with  the  jawT-breaking  name, 
we  went  by  tram  line  about  twenty  miles  and  then  drove  six  miles 
farther.  Near  the  temple  the  road  crosses  a  ferry,  the  substantial  bridge 
which  once  spanned  the  river  there  having  been  swept  away,  and  when 
we  reached  this  point  we  found  the  stream  so  swollen  by  recent  rains 
that  the  natives  were  not  willing  to  risk  their  boats  in  the  angry 
flood.  We  returned  to  the  tramway  station  and  spent  the  night  in  the 
hospitable  home  of  the  Dutch  station  master,  the  only  white  man  in  the 
town.  Returning  to  the  river  early  next  morning  we  found  that  the 
waters  had  sufficiently  subsided  to  enable  us  to  cross,  and  Ave  reached 
Boro  Boedoer  while  yet  the  sun  was  low.  And  what  a  monument  is 
Boro  Boedoer  to  the  zeal  of  the  Buddhist  priests,  the  skill  of  the  Hindu 
architect  and  the  patient  industry  of  the  Javanese !  Ajs  a  temple  it  is 
not  surpassed,  in  labor  expended  upon  its  construction  it  is  comparable 
with  the  pyramids,  and  in  artistic  skill  displayed  in  design  and  execu- 
tion, it  is  even  superior  to  them. 

According  to  archaeologists,  it  was  built  about  twelve  hundred  years 
ago  when  the  Javanese  were  worshipers  of  Buddha,  but  the  invasion  of 
the  Mohammedans  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  so  complete  that  that 
stupendous  pile  was  first  neglected,  then  deserted  and  at  last  forgotten. 
It  was  so  overgrown  with  trees  and  shrubbery  that  the  Dutch  traders 
were  in  the  country  for  two  centuries  before  its  presence  was  discov- 
ered. "When  it  was  found  and  unearthed  during  the  occupancy  of  the 
English  under  Sir  Stamford  Raffles  in  1814,  the  people  living  in  the 
vicinity  were  as  much  surprised  as  the  foreigners,  for  all  tradition  of  its 
existence  bad  been  lost.  This  seems  hardly  possible  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  the  temple  stands  upon  the  summit  of  a  mound,  is  five 


214  THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 

hundred  feet  square  at  the  base  and  towers  to  the  height  of  a  hundred 
feet.  The  structure  is  pyramidal  in  form  and  rises  in  eight  terraces, 
the  first  five  being  square  and  the  last  three  circular.  Each  terrace  has 
a  wall  at  the  outer  edge,  which  with  the  wall  of  the  next  succeeding 
terrace  forms  a  rootless  gallery,  either  side  of  which  is  ornamented 
with  l>as  reliefs  descriptive  of  the  life  of  Buddha.  These  carvings,  if 
placed  side  by  side,  would,  it  is  estimated,  extend  for  three  miles,  and 
the  story  which  they  tell  has  been  interpreted  by  eminent  archaeolo- 
gists who  have  visited  the  place.  These  pictures  in  stone  not  only 
portray  the  rise  and  development  of  the  great  Indian  teacher,  but  they 
preserve  a  record  of  the  dress  and  customs  of  the  people,  the  arms  and 
implements  used,  and  the  fauna  and  flora  of  that  time. 

At  the  center  of  each  side  there  is  a  covered  stairway  leading  to  the 
summit,  and  there  is  evidence  that  the  galleries  were  once  separated 
from  each  other  by  doors.  In  the  niches  along  the  gallery  walls  there 
are  four  hundred  and  thirty-two  stone  images  of  Buddha,  life  size  and 
seated  on  the  ever  present  lotus.  On  the  three  circular  terraces  there  are 
seventy-two  openwork,  bell-shaped  structures,  called  dagabas,  each  con- 
taining a  stone  image  of  Buddha.  Surmounting  the  temple  is  a  great 
dagaba  fifty  feet  in  diameter  and  in  it  was  found  an  unfinished  statue 
of  Buddha-  similar  to  those  found  on  the  various  galleries. 

As  the  stone  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  temple  was  of  a, 
.hard  variety  the  bas  reliefs  are  well  preserved.  No  mortar  was  used  for 
cementing  the  stones  and  no  column-  or  pillars  were  employed. 

Besides  Boro  Boedoer  there  are  hundreds  of  other  temple-  scattered 
over  the  island.  Within  two  miles  of  the  elevation  upon  which  the 
great  temple  stands  there  are  two  religious  edifices — one  a  shrine  of 
exquisite  proportions,  restored  in  1(.M)4.  and  another  a  temple  of  con- 
siderable size  now  being  restored.  At  Brambanan,  about  twenty  miles 
east  of  Djokjakarta,  there  is  a.  large  group  of  temples  scarcely  less 
interesting  than  Boro  Boedoer.  One  of  the  reports  received  by  Sir 
Stamford  Raffles  describes  this  territory  as  the  headquarters  of  Hin- 
duism in  .lava  and  the  temples  as  "•stupendous  and  finished  specimens 
of  human  labor  and  of  the  science  and  taste  of  ages  long  since  forgot."' 

I  must  reserve  for  another  article  my  observations  upon  the  people 
and  upon  Dutch  rule  of  the  island  and  will  conclude  this  paper  with 
the  suggestion  that  Java  should  be  included  in  a  tour  of  the  world. 
whether  undertaken  for  instruction  or  pleasure,  for  few  sections  of  the 
earth  have  been  so  blessed  by  the  Creator's  bounty,  so  beautified  by  the- 
skill  of  the  husbandman,  or  are  so  rich  in  ruins. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

NETHERLANDS  INDIA. 

As  the  Dutch  have  administered  in.  what  they  call  Netherlands 
India,  a  colonial  system  quite  different  in  its  methods  from  the  systems 
adopted  by  other  nations,  I  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  make  some 
inquiries  concerning  it. 

The  .Malay  archipelago,  which  might  almost  be  described  as  a 
continent  cut  up  into  islands,  has  furnished  a  farm  on  which  several  na- 
tions have  experimented  in  colonialism,  but  the  Dutch,  both  in  Length 
of  occupancy  and  in  the  number  of  people  subjected  to  their  rule,  are 
easily  first.  The  archipelago  is  more  than  four  thousand  miles  long 
from  east  to  west,  and  if  the  Philippine  Islands  are  included,  thirteen 
hundred  miles  wide.  Some  of  the  islands  are  larger  than  European 
slates;  Borneo  and  New  Guinea  each  have  an  area  greater  than  the  Brit- 
ish Isles.  On  the  map  the  islands  of  the  archipelago  look  like  stepping 
stones  connecting  Asia,  with  Australia,  hut  some  writers,  arguing  from 
the  fauna  and  flora  as  well  as  from  the  depths  of  the  surrounding 
waters,  contend  that  the  western  islands  are  an  extension  of  Asia  and 
the  eastern  one's  an  extension  of  Australia,  Alfred  Russell  Wallace, 
for  instance,  points  out  that  the  animals,  birds  and  natural  products  of 
(he  two  sections  differ  so  much  as  to  suggest  that  one  group  is  much 
older  than  the  other. 

This  archipelago  is  the  home  of  one  of  the  branches  into  which  the 
human  family  is  divided,  viz.,  the  Malay  or  brown  race.  These  peo- 
ple are  distinct  in  appearance,  and  in  many  of  their  characteristics, 
from  the  yellow  and  black  races  as  well  as  from  the  white  race.  There 
are  in  some  of  the  islands  remnants  of  aboriginal  tribes,  but  the 
Malays  from  time  immemorial  have  furnished  the  prevailing  type. 
They  have  shown  themselves  capable  of  continuous  and  sys- 
tematic labor  where  they  have  been  subjected  to  coercion,  or  where 
a  sufficient  inducement  has  been  presented  as  a.  stimulus;  but  the 
depressing  influence  of  a  continuous  summer,  added  to  the  bounty  of 
the  tropic-,  has  naturally  made  them  less  industrious  than  those  who 
live  in   (he  temperate  zone.    The  clothing  required  by  the  Malay  i< 

215 


216 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


insignificant  in  amount  and  value.  The  little  children  are  bare  and 
seem  to  enjoy  a  shower  as  much  as  ducks  do.  In  Sourabaya,  the  second 
city  in  Java,  we  saw  a  group  of  them  naked,  sliding  on  their  stomachs 
on  a  marble  floor  of  an  open  porch  during  a  heavy  rain.  This  seemed 
a  fairly  satisfactory  substitute  for  the  ice  ponds  of  the  north. 

The  adults,  both  men  and  women,  wear  a  sarong  (except  when  the 
men  content  themselves  with  a 
breech  cloth).  The  sarong,  a  sim- 
ple strip  of  cloth,  is  draped  about 
the  figure  with  all  the  fullness  in 
front  and  fastened  in  some  mysteri- 
ous way  without  the  aid  of  buttons, 
] looks  or  pins.  This  garment,  if  gar- 
ment it  may  be  called,  gives  oppor- 
tunity for  the  exercise  of  taste,  and 
the  range  in  price  is  sufficient  to  per- 
mit of  some  extravagance  in  dress. 
The  best  native  sarongs  are  more  ex- 
pensive than  silk,  the  cloth  being 
overlaid  with  wax,  upon  which  the 
pattern  is  traced,  and  the  dyes  ap- 
plied by  hand.  The  masses  use  a 
cheap  cotton  print  manufactured  in 
Europe.  One  of  the  striking  pecul- 
iarities of  Javanese  life  is  the  adop- 
tion of  the  sarong  by  the  European 
women  for  morning  wear.  Ladies 
who  appear  at  dinner  in  full  evening- 
dress  may  be  seen  on  the  balconies 
and  streets  in  the  morning  hours  clad 
in  loose  hanging  sarongs  and  thin 
dressing  sacques,  their  bare  feet  en- 
cased in  sandals.  On  the  Dutch  boat 
upon  which  wo  loft  Batavia  we  saw 
posted  ootices  designating  the  hours 

during  which  the  sarong  could  be  worn,  and  giving  permission  to  men 
to  wear  a  pajaina-like  outfit  during  the  same  hours. 

Tin    Malay  women  wear  no  hats,  but  the  men  usually  wear  a  tur- 
ban, the  tying  of  which  is  a  great  perplexity  to  the  foreigner. 

The  natives  of  the  Malay  Islands  appear  to  be  a  mild  mannered 
and  peaceful   |><-oplo,  although  fighting  tribes  have  been  encountered 


A  NATIVE. 


NETHERLANDS    INDIA  217 

in  the  mountain  regions,  the  suppression  of  which  has  cost  the  Duteh 
many  lives  and  a  large  outlay  of  florins.  In  Sumatra  there  are  sec- 
tions that  have  never  been  subdued. 

The  Chinaman  is  to  be  found  throughout  the  archipelago;  in  fact, 
he  far  outstrips  all  other  foreign  elements.  The  population  of  Java 
is  given  as  28,747,000  in  the  government  statistics,  and  of  this  total 
277,000  are  Chinese.  The  number  of  Europeans  is  given  i\<  'J -.477, 
and  the  number  of  Arabs  at  18,000,  while  a  little  more  than  three 
thousand  come  from  other  Asiatic  countries.  I  was  informed  that 
the  02,000  described  as  Europeans  included  the  half  castes  who 
number  more  than  40,000,  the  number  of  real  Europeans  being 
about  20,000.  In  the  other  islands  controlled  by  Holland,  the  popu- 
lation is  given  at  a  little  more  than  five  and  a  half  millions,  and  the 
number  of  Chinese  at  260,000,  while  the  European  population  is  esti- 
mated at  13,000,  the  Arabs  at  9,000,  and  other  Asiatics  at  13,000.  It 
will  be  seen  from  these  figures  that  the  Chinese  form  the  chief  foreign 
ingredient  in  Netherlands  India,  as  they  do  in  Borneo  and  the 
Straits  Settlements.  In  Java,  where  we  had  a  chance  to  observe 
them,  we  found  that  the  Chinese  monopolized  the  mercantile 
business  except  where  they  were  compelled  to  share  it  with 
Arabs  and  Indians.  We  also  heard  of  them  as  money  lenders, 
the  rate  of  interest  being  generally  usurious.  It  may  be  said 
to  their  credit,  however,  that  as  Shylocks  the  Arabs  can  surpass  them. 
The  superiority  of  the  Arab  in  this  respect  has  given  rise  to  the  say- 
ing among  the  natives  that  the  Chinaman  leaves  a  native  with  noth- 
ing but  a  sarong  while  an  Arab  strips  him  bare.  Many  Chinamen 
have  grown  rich  and  have  permanently  identified  themselves  with 
the  country,  and  of  these  some  have  discarded  the  queue  entirely 
while  others  have  retained  it  in  a  diminutive  form,  a  little  wisp  of 
hair  lengthened  out  with  silk  thread  and  growing  from  a  spot  not 
much  larger  than  a  dollar. 

Apropos  of  the  Chinese  agitation  against  our  exclusion  act,  it  is 
interesting  to  know  that  the  Chinese  born  in  Java  presented  a  peti- 
tion to  the  governor  general  a  few  years  ago  asking  for  the  restric- 
tion of  the  further  immigration  of  Chinese  coolies.  The  petition  was 
not  granted,  but  the  leader  of  the  movement  so  aroused  the  wrath  of 
the  coolies  that  they  called  upon  him  in  a  body  and  pelted  his  house 
with  mud. 

In  all  of  the  Malay  states  the  opium  vice  is  turned  to  account  by  the 
rulers.  In  some  places  the  sale  of  opium  is  a  government  monopoly, 
while  in  others  jt  is  farmed  out  to  the  highest  bidder.     In  North  Bor- 


218  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

neo  there  is  a  district  called  Sarawak  owned  and  ruled  by  an  Eng- 
lishman who  is  known  as  Rajah  Brooke.  When  we  were  passing 
through  Singapore,  I  noticed  in  a  morning  paper  an  advertisement 
wherein  the  Sarawak  government  asked  for  bids  for  a  three  year-' 
lease  of  the  "'opium  farm,"  "gambling  farm,"  and  "arrack  farm" 
(arrack  is  the  native  name  for  an  intoxicating  liquor).  In  all  of  the 
archipelago  the  vices  of  the  people  seem  to  be  as  remunerative  to  the 
government  as  their  virtues,  and  I  was  reminded  of  the  Chinese  offi- 
cial  at  Pekin  who  jokingly  informed  me  that  he  had  a  selfish  reason 
for  opposing  the  boycott  of  American  goods,  because  it  would  deprive 
him  of  American  cigarettes,  of  which  he  was  very  fond. 

The  Dutch  traders  followed  the  Portuguese  into  the  East  In- 
dies, and  in  time  supplanted  them.  Holland  then  chartered  the  East 
India  Trading  Company  and  Amsterdam  became  the  spice  center 
from  which  all  Europe  drew  its  supplies.  The  Dutch  Trading  Com- 
pany was  manned  by  a  thrifty  crew,'  and  it  was  not  long  before  they 
conceived  of  monopolizing  the  world's  spice  market,  and  they  accom- 
plished this  by  destroying  groves  and  prohibiting  competition  by 
treaty  with  the  natives.  They  are  also  charged  with  destroying  spice 
by  the  ton  in  Amsterdam  in  order  to  maintain  the  price.  One  apolo- 
gist for  this  almost  universally  condemned  practice  of  the  Dutch,  says: 

"When  the  Dutch  established  their  influence  in  these  seas  and  re- 
lieved the  native  princes  from  their  Portuguese  oppressors,  they  saw 
thai  the  easiest  way  to  repay  themselves  would  be  to  get  this  spice 
trade  into  their  own  hands.  For  this  purpose  they  adopted  the  wise 
principle  of  concentrating  the  culture  of  these  valuable  products  in 
those  spots  of  which  they  could  have  complete  control.  To  do  this 
effectually,  it  was  necessary  to  abolish  the  culture  and  trade  in  all 
other  places,  which  they  succeeded  in  doing  by  treaty  with  the  native 
rulers.  These  agreed  to  have  all  the  spice  trees  in  their  possessions 
destroyed.  Thee  gave  up  large,  though  fluctuating,  revenues,  but 
they  gained  in  return  a  fixed  subsidy,  freedom  from  the  constant  at- 
tacks and  harsh  oppression  of  the  Portuguese,  and  a  continuance  of 
their  regal  power  and  exclusive  authority  over  their  own  subject-, 
which  has  maintained  in  all  the  islands  except  Ternate  to  this  day.  Tt 
is  no  doubt  -opposed  by  most  Englishmen,  who  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  look  upon  this  act  of  the  Dutch  with  vague  horror,  as  some- 
thing utterly  unprincipled  and  barbarous,  that  the  native  population 
suffered  grievously  by  this  destruction  of  such  valuable  property. 
But  it  is  certain  that  this  is  not  the  case." 

lie   I  In  ii    proceeds  to  charge  that    (he   native  sultan-  had  a   "rigid 


o 

93 


220  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

monopoly"  of  the  spice  trade  before  the  Dutch  arrived,  and  that  the 
latter  by  prohibiting  the  cultivation  of  spices  left  the  natives  more 
time  for  the  production  of  food  and  other  salable  things,  and  con- 
cludes: "I  believe,  therefore,  that  this  abolition  of  the  spice  trade  in 
the  Moluccas  was  actually  beneficial  to  the  inhabitants,  and  that  it 
was  an  act  bofh  wise  in  itself  and  morally  and  politically  justifiable." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  a  very  brief  space  he  employs  the  argu- 
ments mainly  relied  upon  to  support  "monopoly  wherever  it  has  ap- 
peared, and  also  for  colonialism  in  its  worst  forms.  In  the  first  place, 
the  Dutch  had  to  "repay  themselves"  for  having  "relieved  the  native 
princes  from  their  Portuguese  oppressors" — that  is,  they  had  to  col- 
lect pay  for  their  philanthropy;  second,  as  the  sultans  were  doing  the 
same  thing,  the  Dutch  might  as  well  do  it — that  is,  the  very  familiar 
argument,  "If  we  don't  do  it,  somebody  else  will ;"  and  third,  it  was 
a  good  thing  for  the  natives — it  is  never  difficult  to  prove  this  to  the 
man  who  profits  by  the  system.  But  nothing  is  said  as  to  the  effect 
of  the  monopoly  upon  consumers  of  spices  throughout  the  world.  It 
does  not  seem  to  occur  to  the  writer  above  quoted  (Wallace)  that  they 
are  to  be  considered.  The  view  point  from  which  he  looks  at  the 
whole  matter  can  be  judged  from  his  admonition  to  the  British  thai 
they  must  not  be  too  much  "afraid  of  the  cry  of  despotism  and  slav- 
ery" if  they  are  to  improve  their  "rude  subjects"  and  raise  them  up 
toward  their  own  level. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company  became  involved  and  turned  its  possessions  over  to  the 
crown  of  Holland,  since  which  time  Netherlands  India  has  been  a 
crown  colony.  There  was  a  brief  interim  of  British  rule  (1811  to 
1816),  but  at  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  the  Dutch  regained 
their  possessions  by  treaty',  and  the  English  congratulated  themselves 
that  they  had  been  relieved  of  a  burden. 

The  Dutch  have  governed  Java  through  the  natives,  a  resident  act- 
ing is  "elder  brother"  to  the  Javanese  ruler.  While  the  native  gov- 
ernment has  not  been  disturbed,  and  while  the  native  ruler  is  pro- 
tected from  rival  claimants,  he  is  really  a  prisoner  in  his  own  castle, 
and  can  not  leave  the  premises  without  permission.  However,  as 
these  native  rulers  receive  good  salaries  and  are  allowed  to  exact  hom- 
age from  their  subjects,  they  seem  quite  content  with  their  lot,  and 
the  people,  naturally  docile,  yield  obedience  to  the  chiefs  of  their  own 
race. 

The  culture  system,  aside  from  the  indirect  method  of  ruling,  is  the 
distinguishing  feature  of  Dutch  colonialism  as  it  existed  until  recent 


NETHERLANDS    INDIA  221 

years.  The  East  India  Company  followed  the  practice  of  the  native 
princes  and  collected  a  land  tax  or  rent  of  one-fifth  the  crop,  and  re- 
quired in  addition  the  labor  of  all  able-bodied  males  for  one  day  in 
five.  During  the  five  years  of  British  rule,  forced  Labor  was  abolished 
and  a  land  tax  substituted  for  the  one-fifth  rent,  while  a  separate 
property  system  was  encouraged.  As  soon  as  the  Dutch  resumed  con- 
trol, they  went  hack  to  their  old  regime  except  that  they  demanded 
one  day's  labor  in  seven  instead  of  one  day  in  five.  By  regulating 
the  crops  to  be  planted,  by  collecting  the  fifth  of  the  produce  of  the 
land  and  by  compelling  the  peasants  to  plant  one-fifth  of  the  village 
land  in  crops  to  be  sold  to  the  government  at  a  fixed  price  far  below 
the  market  price,  the  government  of  Holland  derived  large  revenues 
from  its  India  possessions.  It  has  been  estimated  that  in  fifty  years 
a  sum  exceeding  three  hundred  million  dollars  was  exacted  from  the 
natives  in  forced  labor  and  in  the  sale  of  produce  below  the  market 
price.  As  might  be  expected,  the  greed  which  manifested  itself  in 
the  conduct  of  the  government  aroused  increasing  criticism,  and  the 
authorities  were  at  last  compelled  to  change  their  methods. 

Those  who- travel  through  Java  are  unanimous  in  their  praise  of 
the  beautiful  roads  and  the  substantial  bridges  that  span  the  streams: 
they  admire  the  commodious  plantation  homes,  the  splendid  tea  and 
coffee  farms  and  the  well  built  and  well  kept  cities,  and  they  are  in- 
clined to  excuse  the  means  employed  by  the  foreigners  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  islands.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  rice 
fields,  which  are  most  attractive,  existed  before  the  Europeans  set  foot 
upon  the  soil  and  that  the  spices,  instead  of  being  introduced  by  the 
Dutch,  were  the  products  wdiich  first  attracted  their  attention.  The 
Dutch  have  charged  a  high  price  for  the  services  rendered,  and  have 
given  little  attention  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  improvement  of  the 
people.  Being  surprised  that  the  Javanese  had  a  well  developed  sys-. 
tern  of  agriculture  and  irrigation  before  the  Europeans  arrived,  I 
asked  an  intelligent  Hollander:  "What,  then,  have  the  Dutch  taught 
the  Javanese?"  and  he  replied  laughingly.  "We  have  taught  them  to 
pay  vis  their  money." 

The  fact  that  the  culture  system  has,  after  full  discussion,  "been 
abandoned  is  a  sufficient  condemnation  of  it,  and  the  fact  that  re- 
forms are  being  introduced  is  a  confession  that  they  were  needed.  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  present  governor,  General  Van 
Heutsz,  and  found  him  interested  in  enlarging  the  educational  sys- 
tem, and  in  lightening  the  burdens  upon  the  people.  He  has  already 
reduced  the  labor  requirement  one  half,  so  that  the  natives  now  give 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

one  day  in  fourteen  to  the  government  instead  of  one  day  in  .seven. 

The  governor  of  Netherlands  India  receives  the  same  salary  as  our 
president,  and  the  resident  receives  a  salary  which,  including  allow- 
ances, amounts  to  nearly  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  expenses  of  the 
colonial  government  are  paid  by  the  natives  and  by  the  foreigners 
residing  there,  but  the  government  of  Holland  no  longer  draws  an 
income  from  the  islands.  Her  advantages  are  at  present  indirect 
ones  and  consist,  first  of  profits  earned  by  her  citizens  in  trade  with 
the  islands;  second,  of  rents  collected  by  her  citizens  from  planta- 
tions; and  third,  of  salaries  drawn  by  her  citizens  for  civil  or  military 
service  in  the  islands. 

Formerly  land  was  sold  to  foreigners,  but  for  a  great  many  years  it 
has  been  the  policy  of  the  government  to  sell  no  land  whatever  to 
either  Europeans  or  Asiatics,  but  to  lease  it  for  seventy-five  years  or 
less.  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  natives  own  considerably  more 
than  twice  as  much  as  foreigners  hold  under  lease  or  deed,  and  that 
land,  the  product  of  which  must  be  sold  to  the  government  at  a  fixed 
price,  has  been  reduced  to  300.000  acres. 

One  of  the  beneficent  reforms  about  to  be  inaugurated  is  the  estab- 
lishment of  government  pawnshops,  which  will  loan  money  to  the 
people  at  a  low  rate  of  interest,  and  thus  rescue  them  from  the  extor- 
tion which  has  been  practiced  upon  them.  The  government  has 
already  established  savings  banks  in  which  the  deposits  are  constantly 
increasing. 

•  There  is  a  growing  demand  in  Java,  for  a  greater  recognition  of  the 
people  in  government,  and  this  demand  is  being  yielded  to  in  the  cities. 
The  colonial  authorities  have  encouraged  the  soldiers  to  marry  native 
women,  these  marriages  terminating  when  the  soldiers  return  to 
Europe.  As  a  result,  there  is  a  half  caste  element  which  has  been 
given  better  educational  advantages  than  are  accorded  to  the  natives. 
Tin-  element  considers  itself  as  native,  although  counted  in  the  cen- 
sus as  European,  and  is  already  organizing  with  a  view  of  securing 
more  civil  liberty. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  Dutch  colonialism  in  the  past,  a  new  era 
is  dawning,  and  the  present  rulers  recognize  that  their  administration 
must  be  measured  by  the  improvement  in  the  people  rather  than  by 
the  profits  drained  from  the  land  by  Europeans. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

IX  THE  TROPICS. 

Tn  a  tour  around  the  world  one  travels  by  steamer  about  six  thou- 
sand miles  through  the  tropics.  Entering  the  torrid  zone  soon  after 
leaving  Hong  Kong,  almost  touching  the  equator  at  Singapore,  and 
not  entering  the  temperate  zone  again  until  he  is  nearly  half  way 
through  the  Red  Sea.  he  has  ample  time  to  study  the  temperature; 
and  our  opportunities  were  still  far! her  enlarged  by  the  trip  to  Java, 
which  carried  us  nearly  eight  degrees  below  the  equator.  While  on 
the  water  the  heat  is  noi  so  noticeable,  being  relieved  by  the  ocean 
breezes,  on  land  one  suffers  during  the  middle  of  the  day.  It  is  not 
that  the  heat  in  the  shade  is  greater  than  the  summer  heat  in  the 
United  States,  but  one  can  not  always  be  in  the  shade,  and  the  rays  of 
the  sun  are  piercing  to  a  degree  which  is  inconceivable  to  one  without 
experience  in  these  latitudes.  At  the  seaports,  too,  the  heat  is  inten- 
sified by  the  weight  and  moisture  of  the  air,  and  the  temperature  is 
practically  the  same  the  year  round — at  least  one  who  visits  this  part 
of  the  world  in  the  winter  time  can  not  imagine  it  worse. 

While,  the  native  population  work  barebacked,  barelegged,  bare- 
footed, and  sometimes  bareheaded,  Americans  and  Europeans  resort 
to  every  possible  device  to  protect  them  from  the  climate. 

The  white  helmet,  with  a  lining  of  cork,  is  the  most  common  head- 
wear  for  both  men  and  women,  and  it  does  not  require  a  very  long 
stay  here  to  convince  one  that  it  is  superior  to  the  straw  hat.  White 
clothes  which  reflect  the  rays  of  the  sun  are  also  largely  worn  by  both 
-exes.  For  evening  dress,  men  sometime-  wear  a  close-fitting  white 
jacket,  reaching  to  the  waist,  and  before  breakfast  they  lounge  about 
in  pajamas  of  variegated  color-. 

Eating  extends  through  the  entire  day.  Tea  or  coffee  can  be  had 
from  five  to  eight:  breakfast  is  ready  at  eight  or  nine  and  end-  at 
twelve:  lunch  or  tiffin  as  it  is  called  here,  occupies  the  hours  from  one 
to  three;  then  tea  follow-  at  four,  and  dinner  is  served  from  eight  to 
ten-thirty.     These  are  the  hour-   for  Europeans  and  Americans,  and 

223 


224 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


for  those  natives  who  have  adopted  foreign  ways,  but  most  of  the 
natives  look  as  if  they  had  missed  some  of  these  meals. 


IX    THE    TROPICS. 


We  are  among  the  dark-skinned  races  here.  Chinamen  are  a 
darker  yellow  than  those  seen  farther  north,  the  Malays  are  a  dark 
brown  and  Tamils  are  quite  black,  while  the  Singalese  and  Indians 


IX    THE    TROPICS  ^'-':> 

are  between  a  black  and  brown.  Mark  Twain  pays  a  high  compli- 
ment (<>  these^dark-skinned  people  a1  the  expense  of  the  while  race-, 
contending  that  their  complexion  is  always  good,  while  the  white  face 

has  freckles,  pimples  and  moles  to  mar  it. 

There  are  two  great  seaports  near  the  equator  which  every  traveler 
visits,  viz.:  Singapore  and  Colombo,  and  most  of  the  boats  also  stop 
at  Penang,  a  thriving  city  on  the  Malay  peninsula,  some  four  hun- 
dred miles  north  of  Singapore.  Singapore  is  on  a  small  island  of 
the  same  name  not  far  from  the  mainland,  and  its  harbor  is  full  of 
sea-going  vessels  of  all  nation-.  The  ships  from  Europe  to  China 
and  Japan  call  here,  as  do  also  the  boats  between  Europe  and-  Java 
and  between  India  and  Australia.  Here,  too,  are  to  be  found  represen- 
tatives of  many  nationalities,  twenty-nine  distinct  languages  being- 
spoken  in  this  one  city.  The  Portuguese  were  the  pioneers,  and  there 
are  still  some  descendants  of  the  early  traders  living  on  the  island. 
Next  in  point  of  time  came  the  Dutch,  and  their  nation  is  still  more 
numerously  represented  among  the  business  firms.  England,  how- 
ever, though  a  later  arrival,  has  largely  supplanted  both  in  the  con- 
trol of  the  commerce  of  the  port,  though  the  Germans  seem  to  be 
numerous. 

Singapore  and  Penang  are  the  great  export  ports  for  tin,  three- 
fourths  of  the  world's  output  for  that  product  being  mined  near  by. 
The  United  States  takes  ten  and  a  half  million  dollars  of  tin  from 
the  Straits  Settlements  and  six  millions  of  other  products  and  sells 
only  $1,161,000  worth  in  return. 

I  might  add  in  this  connection  that  the  trade  possibilities  of  the 
tropics  have  been  very  much  overestimated  by  enthusiastic  expan- 
sionists. The  natives  raise  their  own  food  at  -a  much  lower  cost  than 
we  could  possibly  sell  it  to  them,  even  if  our  food  were  suited  to  their 
wants.  They  do  not  need  our  building  material,  and  as  for  clothing. 
one  American  is  worth  more  as  a  customer  than  a  hundred  of  these 
natives.  While  a  fewT  wear  rich  robes,  the  mass  content  themselves 
with  a  very  scanty  costume  of  very  cheap  cotton — a  costume  which 
someone  has  described  as  "a  handkerchief  around  the  loins  and  a 
table  cloth  around  the  head."  No  shoe  manufacturer  need  send  a 
salesman  to  these  parts,  for  even  the  coachman  and  footmen  in  livery 
are  barefooted.  I  once  supposed  that  we  might-  work  up  a  trade  in 
breech  clouts  and  fishing  rods,  but  I  find  the  latter  grow  here  in  pro- 
fusion, and  the  former  are  not  valuable  enough  to  furnish  a  basis  for 
much  trade. 


226 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


There  is  one  branch  of  commerce  that  might  be  developed  if  this 
ucre  not  the  home  of  the  gem  and  if  the  natives  were  not  skillful 
goldsmiths.  Jewelry  is  the  passion  here.  Women  fairly  load  them- 
selves down  with  ornaments  when  they  can  afford  it.  They  wear 
rings  on  the  fingers  and  toes,  bracelets  and  anklets,  ear  ornaments 
galore  and,  strangest  of  all,  jewels  in  the  nose.  We  noticed  one 
woman  yesterday  with  three  enormous  pendants  hanging  from  each 
ear,  one  from  the  top,  one  from  the  side  and  one  from  the  lobe,  and 
our  coachman  at  Kandy  was  ^resplendent  with  six  in  either  ear,  but 
his  jewelry  was  more  modest  in  size.  The  nose  ornaments  look  like 
shirt  studs  and  are  screwed  into  one  or  both  nostrils ;  sometimes  a  ring 


THE  LAKE  AT   KANDY,   CEYLON. 

hangs  from  the  point  of  the  nose.  The  necklaces  vary  greatly  in 
style,  workmanship  and  value.  The  island  of  Ceylon  is  rich  in  gems 
and  furnishes  a  variety  of  stones  for  the  jeweler's  art.  From  the  fact 
that  nearly  all  of  the  precious  stones  mentioned  in  the  Bible  are  to 
be  found  here  it  is  thought  that  Ceylon  must  have  been  known  to  the 
Israelites  and  that  her  ships  carried  wealth  to  Solomon. 

After  seeing  the  extravagant  use  of  jewelry  here,  one  is  almost 
tempted  to  forgive  even  the  most  vulgar  display  of  precious  stones 
made  in  the  Occident;  and  then,  too,  the  rubies,  sapphires,  the  dia- 
monds, the  emeralds,  the  amethysts,  the  alexanderites,  the  cat's  eyes, 


IN    THE    TROPICS  227 

the  opals,  etc.,  exhibited  in  the  stores  here  are  so  beautiful  that  one 
must  be  proof  against  vanity  to  resist  their  charms. 

Ice  might  have  formed  an  important  item  of  trade,  for  nowhere 
does  the  white  man  appreciate  this  luxury  more,  had  not  the  ice 
machine  made  importation  unnecessary.  The  larger  boats  now  man- 
ufacture their  own  ice  from  condensed  sea  water,  and  there  are  plants 
at  all  the  important  ports.  We  went  from  Borneo  to  Singapore  on  a 
ship  which  was  not  equipped  with  an  ice  machine,  and  we  complained 
when  the  supply  gave  out.  An  English  passenger  took  advantage  of 
our  distress  to  compare  national  characteristics,  and  humorously 
remarked  that  when  the  Americans  moved  into  a  new  territory,  they 
at  once  established  an  ice  plant,  while  the  English  gave  their  first 
attention  to  the  laying  out  of  cricket  grounds. 

One  does  not  travel  far  in  the  Orient  until  he  becomes  a  crank  on 
the  subject  of  water.  He  receives  so  many  warnings  that  he  soon  sus- 
pects that  disease  lurks  in  every  glassful.  If  he  tries  the  bottled 
waters,  they  pall  on  the  taste,  and  if  he  relies  on  boiled  water  he  is 
tormented  with  fear  that  it  has  not  really  been  boiled  or  that  some 
other  water  has  been  accidentally  substituted.  "The  Old  Oaken 
Bucket"  is  recalled  as  a  vision  of  delight,  and  "the  Avell  at  home"  is 
remembered  with  an  admiration  never  felt  before  (faucet  may  be 
substituted  for  well  by  those  who  live  in  a  city). 

Colombo  is  situated  on  the  island  of  Ceylon  just  below  the  southern- 
most point  of  the  mainland  of  India.  Here,  too,  is  a  commodious 
harbor  visited  by  all  merchant  fleets.  It  vies  with  Singapore  as  an 
equatorial  port.  The  "spicy  breezes"  of  Ceylon  are  immortalized  in 
song  and  story — it  is  the  land 

"Where  every  prospect  pleases 
And  only  man  is  vile." 

At  Kandy,  about  seventy-five  miles  from  the  coast,  there  is  an 
excellent  botanical  garden  rivaling  the  garden  at  Buitenzorg,  even  as 
Kandy  itself  rivals  Buitenzorg  as  a  summer  resort.  (There  are  exten- 
sive gardens  at  Singapore  and  Penang,  but  they  are  inferior  to  those 
in  Ceylon  and  Java.)  These  gardens  are  about  equally  distant  from 
the  equator;  the  former  north,  the  latter  south,  but  the  garden  at 
Kandy  has  twice  the  altitude  of  the  other.  We  were  interested  in 
comparing  the  plants  and  examining  the  new  specimens.  While 
Buitenzorg  is  superior  in  her  collection  of  orchids  the  ferns  at  Kandy 
surpass  anything  we  have  seen.  Here  the  yellow  bamboo  is  added  to 
the  varieties  seen  elsewhere;  here,  too,  we  saw  the  screw  palm,  whose 
leaves  form  a  spiral  line  like  the  thread  of  a  screw.     Another  curious 


228 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


variety  is  the  sealing  wax  palm,  the  higher  joints  of  which  look 
exactly  like  red  scaling  wax.  The  travelers'  palm,  which  we  also  saw 
in  Java,  is  to  be  found  here,  its  name  being  derived  from  the  fact  that 
each  leaf  stem  catches  and  holds  sufficient  water  to  slake  a  traveler's 


SINGALESE    CHIEFS  DAUGHTER SHOWING   JEWELRY. 


thirst.  The  talipot  palm  attracts  the  attention  of  all  visitors,  not 
only  he-cause  its  leaves  formed  the  parchment  for  the  early  books  of 
Buddhism,  but  because  it  Mowers  but  once,  and  then,  as  if  exhausted 
by  its  half  century's  effort,  dies.     The  sensitive  plant  grows  wild  here 


IN    THE    TROPTCS  229 

and  seems   almost    human    in    its  perception,   as   it  shrinks   from   the 
slightest    touch   and   folds   its   leaves   as   it'   withered. 

1  have  already  spoken  of  the  fruits  of  the  tropics,  especially  those 
of  -lava,  but  I  think  I  ought  to  qualify  my  words.  Since  reveling  in 
mangosteens,  rambutans,  etc.,  I  have  eaten  an  apple  and  am  con- 
vinced that  no  tropical  fruit  can  compare  with  it;  and  when  to  the 
apple  are  added  the  peach,  the  pear,  the  plum  and  the  cherry,  and  to 


SINGALESE    CARPENTER. 

these  fruits  of  the  trees  are  added  the  grape,  the  strawberry,  the  rasp- 
berry and  the  blackberry,  not  to  speak  of  the  pineapples,  oranges  and 
bananas  of  our  southern  states,  who  will  say  that  the  temperate  zone 
is  not  as  highly  favored  as  the  warmer  lands? 

\Ve  not  only  have  an  abundance  of  both  the  necessaries  and  the 
luxuries,  but  we  escape  some  of  the  torments  of  the  tropics.  Animal-. 
reptiles  and  insects  run  riot  here.     The  tiger  is  "man-eating."  the  ser- 


230  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

pent-  are  Large  and  poisonous  and  the  insects  are  omnipresent.  We 
sometimes  complain  at  home  of  the  mosquito,  which  seem-  to  be  a 
universal  pest,  and  found  everywhere,  "from  Greenland's  icy  moun- 
tains to  India"-  coral  strands,"  but  here  its  activity  is  perennial  and 
-  ippetite  reaches  its  maximum.  In  all  the  hotels  the  beds  are  pro- 
tected by  mosquito  bars,  for  without  them  sleep  would  be  impossible. 
The  ant  is  even  more  annoying  than  the  mosquito,  for  while  the 
former  does  most  of  its  prowling  at  night,  the  latter  "improves  each 
shining  hour."  If  the  natives  play  the  sluggard,  it  is  because  they 
refuse  to  profit  by  the  example  of  industry  which  the  ant  ever  pre- 
sents to  them.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  the  legs  of  dining  tables  and 
cupboards  to  be  set  in  bowls  of  water  as  a  protection  from  these 
insect.-,  and  where  this  precaution  is  not  taken  the  diner  divides  his 
time  between  eating  and  fighting  ants.  The  white  ant  has  a  literary 
turn  of  mind  and  pays  especial  attention  to  books.  We  have  heard 
of  several  libraries  being  ravaged  by  this  insect,  the  leaves  being  so 
perforated  that  the  books  looked  like  honeycombs.  In  his  search  for 
knowledge  the  ant  has  the  companionship  of  the  cockroach,  which 
grows  here  to  the  length  of  two  or  three  inches,  can  fly,  and  stains 
what  it  can  not  devour.  The  house  lizard  is  always  in  evidence.  One 
evening  we  counted  twenty-four  of  these  interesting  little  reptiles  in 
sight  at  one  time  on  our  porch.  At  night  lizards  in  the  trees 
call  hoarsely  to  each  other,  and  when  it  rains  the  air  is  vocal  with  the 
croaking  of  frogs  and  the  singing  of  insects. 

In  the  Botanical  Garden  at  Kandy  we  saw  hundreds  of  flying 
foxes,  which  look  like  buzzards.  Some  of  these  flying  foxes  measure 
four  feet  from  tip  to  tip. 

I  find  that  there  is  a  disease  in  these  latitudes  called  tropical  frenzy 
— an  uncontrollable  anger  which  sometimes  manifests  itself  when 
European  officials  deal  with  native  subjects.  This  has  been  seriously 
discussed  in  medical  meetings,  and  it  has  been  argued  that  acts  of  vio- 
lence on  the  part  of  officials  should  be  excused  on  this  ground.  The 
-object  has  been  scientifically  considered  at  a  meeting  of  German 
physicians.  This  disease  seems  to  be  confined  to  Europeans,  the 
natives  being  immune  from  it. — at  least,  it  is  not  considered  a  good 
defense  when  urged  by  a  native  as  an  excuse  for  doing  violence  to  a 
European. 

My  experience  with  the  money  changers  of  the  Orient  has  made 
the  money  changers  of  America  seem  virtuous  by  comparison.  This 
is  the  worst  place  for  shaving,  for  discounts,  for  premiums,  for  com- 
missions and  for  exchange  that  I  have  visited.     In  traveling,  one  has 


IN    THE    TROPICS 


231 


frequently  to  change  money  from  the  currency  of  one  nation  to  that 
of  another,  and  as  there  seems  to  be  QO  fixed  rate,  he  never  knows 
what  he  is  going  to  realize.  (By  the  way,  one  who  thinks  that  a  gold 
dollar  is  good  the  world  around  can  learn  something  from  the  dis- 
counts.)     At  Colombo    I    had  some    Singapore  bills   converted    into 


TAMIL  GIRL CEYLON. 


rupees.  The  cashier  at  the  hotel  said  that  the  rate  was  one-twenty. 
and  gave  me  twelve  rupees  for  ten  dollars.  A  few  minutes  afterwards 
I  had  occasion  to  buy  some  tickets  of  a  tourist  agent  and  he  allowed 
me  fifteen  rupees  for  ten  dollars;  the  next   time  I  made  change  I 


232  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

received  sixteen  rupees  and  seventy  cents  for  ten.  This  is  a  sample 
of  the  experience  one  has  here.  At  Singapore  I  drew  some  money  on 
my  letter  of  credit  which  calls  for  pounds;  as  I  was  going  into  English 
territory,  T  thought  it  would  be  convenient  to  carry  some  five  pound 
notes,  but  the  bank  insisted  on  converting  the  pounds  into  Singapore 
dollars  at  eight-forty-five,  and  then  offered  to  sell  me  five  pound  notes 
at  the  rate  of  eight-seventy.  When  I  related  the  incident  to  an  Eng- 
lishman, he  recalled  an  instance  where  a  man  presented  a  two  hun- 
dred pound  note  and  asked  for  smaller  bills;  the  bank  charged  him 
a  commission  for  converting  the  larger  bills  into  rupees  and  then 
another  commission  for  converting  the  rupees  into  five  pound  notes. 

I  found  in  China  that  the  notes  issued  by  a  bank  in  one  city  would 
be  discounted  when  presented  at  a  branch  of  the  same  bank  in  another 
city.  Throughout  the  Malay  states  the  Chinese  are  conspicuous  as 
money  lenders,  but  at  Singapore  they  come  into  competition  with  the 
Indians,  who  are  their  superior  in  this  line  of  business.  At  Colombo 
we  saw  no  Chinese  at  all. 

We  have  found  the  American  missionary  everywhere,  but  his  work 
among  the  Malays  is  less  promising  than  anywhere  else.  Missionary 
work  has  been  quite  successful  among  the  Chinese  in  the  Malay  archi- 
pelago and  among  the  Tamils  at  Singapore,  but  nearly  all  the  Malays 
are  Mohammedans,  and  while  they  believe  in  one  Gcd  and  recognize 
Christ  as  a  great  prophet,  they  believe  the  author  of  their  religion  to 
have  been  a  superior  teacher. 

In  traveling,  one  has  an  opportunity  to  study  human  nature  in  all 
Its  phases,  and  in  an  extended  trip  meets  representatives  of  all  the 
nations.  The  North  German  Lloyd  has  a  line  running  from  Yoko- 
hama to  Bremen.  (This  line,  I  may  add,  makes  it  possible  for  one 
to  go  from  San  Francisco  to  New  York  within  two  months,  with  but 
two  changes  of  boat,  and  still  stop  long  enough  at  the  principal  ports 
to  learn  something  of  the  cities  and  the  people.)  We  went  from  Sin- 
gapore to  Colombo  on  one  of  the  boats  of  this  line.  Besides  a  few 
Americans,  Germans  and  Hollanders,  and  a  still  larger  num- 
ber of  English,  there  were  several  Japanese  en  route  for 
Europe,  and  Russian  officers  and  soldiers  returning  from 
Japan.  We  made  some  agreeable  acquaintances  among  the  company, 
as  it  is  possible  to  do  on  every  voyage,  but  just  before  leaving  the  boat 
al  Colombo  we  came  into  contact  with  a  tourist  who  belonged  to  the 
genus  hog.  Our  boat  arrived  between  eight  and  nine  in  the  evening, 
and  the  porters  informed  us  that  the  hotels  were  full,  but  that  we 
could  obtain  room-:  in  the  morning,  as  a  number  would  leave  on  our 


IN    THE    TROPICS  233 

ship.  I  stated  the  case  to  the  captain,  and  he  assured  me  that  we  were 
welcome  to  remain  on  board  until  morning.  Just  as  my  wife  and 
daughter  were  retiring,  a  man  came  on  board,  followed  by  a  lot  of 
baggage,  and  directed  his  porter  to  put  it  in  our  room.  I  explained  to 
him  that  not  being  able  to  find  accommodations  on  shore,  we  had 
obtained  permission  to  occupy  the  room  until  morning,  but  he 
brusquely  replied  that  he  had  engaged  the  room  two  months  before 
and  most  have  it.  I  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  boat  was 
late  in  reaching  port  and  would  not  leave  until  nearly  noon  the  next 
day,  and  suggested  as  politely  as  I  could  that  the  captain  was  the 
proper  person  to  decide  whether  he  was  entitled  to  claim  the  room 
under  the  circumstances.  Without  consulting  the  captain  he  went  to 
the  steward  and  demanded  that  the  ladies  be  moved  to  another  room, 
although  another  room  was  placed  at  his  disposal  for  the  night.  It 
required  some  plain,  straightforward  and  emphatic  language  to  bring 
him  to  the  point  where  he  was  willing  to  occupy  a  different  room 
temporarily,  and  I  am  afraid  that  he  still  regards  Americans  as  very 
rude  and  uncouth  creatures.  He  is,  however,  the  first  man  ■  whom  I 
have  met  so  far  who  would  claim  as  a  right  that  to  which  he  was  not 
entitled,  and  then  demand  the  enforcement  of  the  assumed  right  with- 
out regard  to  the  convenience  of  others. 

On  the  last  mentioned  trip  we  witnessed  a  burial  at  sea,  the  first 
that  has  occurred  during  our  voyage.  One  of  the  passengers  died 
after  we  left  Singapore,  and  we  learned  of  it  while  the  funeral  service- 
were  in  progress'.  The  corpse  was  enclosed  in  a  black  (weighted) 
coffin  in  which  several  holes  were  bored.  The  ship  slackened  its 
speed,  and  as  the  band  played  a  funeral  dirge,  the  body  was  slowly 
lowered.  Upon  reaching  the  water  it  floated  back  for  a  short  distance 
and  then  disappeared.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to  see  the  remains  of  a 
human  being  consigned  to  a  watery  tomb  with  nothing  to  mark  its 
resting  place;  and  yet  he  does  not  sleep  alone,  for  in  this  mighty 
ocean  sepulcher  myriads  lie  buried  and  the  waves  moan  above  them 
a  requiem  as  sweet  as  that  sung  by  the  trees  to  those  who  rest  upon 
the  land. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

BURMA  AND  BUDDHISM. 

Burma  is  another  country  which  was  added  to  our  list  after  leaving 
home,  but  as  its  people  are  quite  distinct  from  the  inhabitants  of 
India  and  as  it  is  one  of  the  strongholds  of  Buddhism,  we  turned 
aside  to  visit  it  en  route  from  Ceylon  to  Calcutta.  On  the  map  it  occu- 
pies a  part  of  the  east  side  of  the  first  of  the  three  great  peninsulas 
that  stretch  down  from  Asia  to  the  Indian  ocean  and  is  separated 
from  India  proper  by  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Its  principal  stream  is  the 
[rawaddy,  famed  in  story  for  the  magnificent  scenery  along  its 
course  and  for  the  fertile  valley  through  which  it  passes  on  its  way 
to  the  sea. 

Rangoon,  the  seaport  of  Burma,  is  situated  some  twenty  miles 
inland  upon  a  river  of  the  same  name,  and  has  a  harbor  quite  differ- 
ent from  those  a*t  Singapore  and  Colombo.  At  those  places  the  pas- 
sengers on  the  incoming  and  outgoing  steamers  amuse  themselves  by 
tossing  silver  coins  into  the  transparent  waters  and  watching  the 
divers  catch  them  before  they  can  reach  the  bottom,  but  at  Rangoon 
the  water  is  so  muddy  that  a  diver  would  have  difficulty  in  finding  an 
electric  light.  The  depth  of  the  water,  loo,  is  insufficient  except  when 
the  tide  is  high.  But  the  city  of  Rangoon  is  substantially  built  and 
has  a  number  of  fine  business  blocks  and  excellent  public  building.-. 
A  municipal  hospital  now  in  course  of  construction  surpasses  any- 
thing which  we  have  seen  in  the  East.  The  park  system  at  Rangoon 
i-  very  attractive,  and  one  sees  the  well-to-do  element  of  the  city  fully 
represented  there  in  the  early  evening.  The  roads  about  Rangoon 
are  good,  but  not  equal  to  those  of  Ceylon  and  Java.  I  have  already 
spoken  of  the  Java  roads,  and  those  of  Ceylon  are  not  behind  them. 
Xo  out-  can  see  these  well  graded,  well  drained  and  beautifully  shaded 
highways  without  having  his  interest  in  good  roads  quickened. 

At  Rangoon  we  saw  the  elephants  at  work  in  a  lumber  yard,  but 
they  do  not  attract  anything  like  the  attention  from  the  natives  that 
''Jumbo"  and  the  "Baby  Elephant"  did  in  the  United  States  during 

234 


BURMA    AND    BUDDHISM 


235 


my  boyhood  days.  It  is  not  necessary  here  for  the  head  of  the  family 
to  take  his  wife  and  all  the  children  to  the  circus  in  order  that  the 
younger  members  of  the  family  may  catch  a  glimpse  of  one  of  these 
ungainly  beasts.  In  Burma  the  elephant  is  simply  an  everyday  beast 
of  burden  and  earns  his  food  as  faithfully  as  the  horse  or  the  ox.  We 
saw  three  at  work  in  the  lumber  yard  which  we  visited,  the  oldest  of 
which  is  more  than  threescore  and  ten  years,  and  has  Labored  indus- 
triously for  more  than  fifty  years.  A  native  rides  upon  his  back  and 
directs  him  by  word,  sometimes  emphasized  by  an  iron  pointed  stick, 
and  the  huge  fellow  lifts,  pushes  and  twists  the  logs  about  with  almost 


AX   ELEPHANT   AT   WORK   IX   RAXGOOX. 


human  intelligence.  The  elephant  has  an  eye  for  neatness,  and  one 
would  hardly  believe  from  hearsay  with  what  regularity  and  careful- 
ness he  works,  moving  from  one  end  of  the  log  to  the  other  until  it 
is  in  exactly  the  right  place.  In  lifting  he  uses  his  tusk-,  kneeling 
when  his  work  requires  it.  In  carrying  large  blocks  of  wood  he  uses 
both  tusks  and  trunk.  Sometimes  the  elephant  pushes  a  heavy  log 
along  the  ground  with  one  of  his  forefeet,  walking  on  the  other  three, 
but  generally  the  logs  are  drawn  by  a  chain  attached  to  a  broad  breast 
strap.  An  eighteen-year-old  elephant,  working  in  the  same  yard,  was 
thus  drawing  heavy  timbers  and  went  about  his  work  uncomplain- 
ingly so  long  as  he  was  permitted  to  draw  one  at  a  time,  but  when 
two  of  these  timbers  were  fastened  together,  he  raised  his  voice  in  a 


236 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


pathetic  lament  which  grew  more  touching  when  he  received  a 
pointed  suggestion  from  his  driver.  These  trumpetings  were  really 
terrifying  to  a  stranger,  but  did  not  seem  to  alarm  the  Burmese.    The 

-  of  the  old  elephant  showed  signs  of  age;  in  fact,  they  were  thin 
and  frayed  with  Happing  and  looked  like  drooping  begonia  leaves. 

The  elephants  which  we  saw  weighed  about  two  tons  each,  and 
consumed  about  800  pounds  of  feed  per  day.  When  I  was  informed 
that  an  elephant  ate  regularly  one-fifth  of  his  own  weight  per  day, 
iuld  understand  better  than  ever  before  what  it  means  to  "have  an 
elephant  on  one's  hands."  The  fact  that  they  can  be  profitably  used 
in  business  -hows  their  capacity  for  work.     The  old  song  that  credits 


THE  PARK  AT   RANGOON. 

the  elephant  with  eating  all  night  as  well  as  all  day  is  founded  on 
fact,  for  the  animal  requires  but  two  hours'  sleep  out  of  twenty-four, 
and  when  nol  otherwise  employed,  he  puts  in  his  time  eating. 

The  elephant,  notwithstanding  his  huge  bulk  and  massive  strength, 
very  timid  animal,  and  can  be  put  to  flight  by  a  dog  or  even  a 
rat.  A  short  time  ago  a  drove  of  Rangoon  elephants  was  stampeded 
by  an  automobile,  and  it  is  well  known  the  shipping  of  an  elephant 
is  a  difficult  task.  The  elephant  has  a  small  hole  resembling  a  knife 
cut,  on  the  side  of  the  head,  and  at  times  a  watery  fluid  is  discharged 
therefrom.    For  some  reason,  apparently  unknown,  the  animal  is  sub- 


];ri;M.\    AND    BUDDHISM 


237 


ject  to  frenzy  during  the  period  of  this  discharge  and  musi  be  kepi  in 
confinement. 

Mandalay,  the  second  city  of  Burma,  is  386  miles  north  of  Rangoon, 
by  rail,  and  is  situated  on  the  Erawaddy  river.  Kipling,  in  his  poem, 
declares  that  "the  Hying  fishes  play,"  "on  the  road  to  Mandalay,"  but 
ho  has  been  guilty  of  using  poetic  license.  The  captain  of  one  of  the 
steamers  warned  us  in  advance  that  no  flying  fish  would  be  seen  on  the 
river,  and  one  Englishman  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  poet  had  never 
been  in  Mandalay.  We  planned  to  take  a  ride  up  the  river,  bul  our 
purpose  was  thwarted  by  a  sandbar  which  detained  our  boat  from  noon 
until  the  next  morning,  so  that  our  view  of  the  river  while  very 
thorough  at  that  point,  was  not  very  extensive.    Most  tourists  go  to 


FIVE   BUNDRED    PAGODA    AT   MANDALAY. 

Mandalay  by  train  and  return  as  far  as  Prome  by  boat,  but  the  scenery 
is  finer  in  the  defiles  above  Mandalay. 

In  going  by  land  from  Rangoon  to  Mandalay  one  sees  nothing  but 
rice,  but  this  is  piled  along  the  road  in  seemingly  inexhaustible  quan- 
tities. One  is  reminded  of  the  wheat  and  corn  states  of  our  own  country 
as  he  sees  the  piles  of  sacks  and  loose  grain  awaiting  shipment.  While 
there  are  other  industries  in  Burma,  the  rice  fields  and  the  piles  of  teak 
wood  are  most  in  evidence.  In  northern  Burma  there  are  some  rich 
ruby  mines  and  the  jewelry  stores  are  as  fascinating  as  those  of  Ceylon. 

The  gongs  of  Mandalay  are  famous  throughout  the  world  for  richness 
of  tone,  and  carving  in  ivory,  teak  and  sandalwood  gives  employment 


238 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


to  many  artisans.  Elephants  and  images  of  Buddha  in  wood,  brass  and 
alabaster  are  exposed  for  sale  in  all  the  shops,  and  the  silks  are  delicate 
in  texture  and  beautiful  in  color  and  design. 

The  Burmese  have  a  large  mixture  of  Chinese  blood,  as  is  shown  by 
their  features  and  traits  of  character,  but  they  are  darker  in  color.  They 
are  a  cheerful  and  docile  people,  and  their  women  have  never  been  the 
victims  of  seclusion  that  burdens  the  life  of  the  women  of  India.  Both 


BURMESE  WOMAN  WITH   CIGARETTE. 


men  and  women  wear  gay  colors,  which  lends  picturesqueness  to  the 
scenes  of  the  street.  In  China  and  Japan  we  were  amused  at  the  small 
pipes  used  by  the  men.  In  Burma  one  is  amazed  at  the  enormous  cigar- 
ettes— six  inches  long  and  an  inch  thick — which  the  women  smoke. 

In  Burma,  as  in  other  Oriental  countries,  the  streams  are  the  wash- 
tubs  of  iho  nation,  and  a  flat  stone  takes  the  place  of  a  washboard.   It 
wash  day  on  the  Irawaddy  when  we  started  out  on  our  boat  ride, 


BURMA     AND    BUDDHISM 


239 


and  the  bank  of  the  river  looked  like  a  flower  bed,  so  bright  and  varied 
were  the  colors  of  the  turbans  and  dresses  of  the  long  row  of  washers 
.-winging  the  clothes  high  above  their  heads  and  baiting  them  upon  the 
stones. 

Burma  is  the  home  of  the  pagoda;  one  is  never  out  of  sight  of 
them,  but  they  differ  in  shape  from  those  seen  in  China  and  Japan. 
The  Burmese  pagoda  is  usually  circular,  though  sometimes  octag- 
onal. The  largest  of  these  is  known  as  the  Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda 
at  Rangoon.     It   is    a    solidly    built    pyramidal  cone,   with    gradu- 


BUDDHIST   TEMPLE. 


ally  diminishing  outline  and  is  surmounted  by  a  ti  or  "umbrella" 
spire  of  .concentric  iron  rings  from  which  hang  little  bells 
which  tinkle  when  moved  by  the  breeze.  This  pagoda  has  a  circumfer- 
ence of  1,355  feet  at  the  base,  rises  to  a  height  of  370  feet,  and  stands 
upon  a  terraced  mound  which  is  itself  160  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
country  around.  The  upper  part  of  the  pagoda  is  gilded,  and  its  base  is 
surrounded  by  many  elaborate  shrines  containing  images  of  Buddha. 
Here  the  faithful  offer  their  devotions  during  the  day  and  evening. 


240 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


and  the  vendors  of  candles,  incense  and  flowers  do  a  thriving  business. 
Here  also  assemble  the  lame,  the  halt  and  the  blind,  to  gather  their 
penny  tribute  from  the  passersby. 

Mandalay  is  still  more  liberally  supplied  with  pagodas.  At  the 
Largest,  the  Aracan,  one  sees  repeated  the  scenes  of  the  Shwe  Dagon. 
only  tlir  beggars  seem  more  numerous.    At  this  pagoda  there  is  a  filthy 


THE   SHWE   DAGON   PAGODA. 

pool  in  which  live  a  number  of  sacred  turtles,  and  they  must  have 
charmed  lives  to  live  at  all  in  so  foul  a  place.  They  rise  to  the  surface 
when  food  is  thrown  into  the  water,  but  they  are  so  slow  in  their  move- 
tnents  that  the  kites  which  hover  about  the  place  generally  snatch  up 
the  morsels  before  the  turtles  reach  them. 

Far  more  beautiful  than  the  Aracan  Pagoda  islhe  group  known  as  the 


BURMA     A.\H    BUDDHISM  -'ll 

Four  Hundred  and  Fifty,  This  remarkable  group,  which  actually  num- 
bers 729,standsat  the  fool  of  Mandalay  Hill  and  was  built  by  an  uncle  of 
King  Thebaw.  In  the  center  of  the  group  is  the  usual  pagoda,  and 
around  it  in  parallel,  rectangular  rows  are  small  square  pagodas, 
each  terminating  in  a  graceful  tower  and  containing  a  slab  inscribed 
on  both  side*.  These  slabs  together  contain  all  the  writings  of  Bud- 
dha, and  the  smaller  pagodas  viewed  from  the  center  one,  present  an 
imposing  spectacle.  These  pagodas  are  well  kept,  and  all  the  build- 
ings are  snowy  white.  I  emphasize  the  fact  that  these  are  in  good 
repair,  because  so  many  of  the  Buddhist  pagodas  and  monasteries 
are  in  a  state  of  decay.  Whether  this  is  due  to  decrease  in  the  zeal 
of  the  followers  of  Buddha  or  to  the  fact  that  the  Burmese  king. 
Thebaw,  has  for  more  than  twenty  years  been  a  political  prisoner  on 
the  west  coast  of  India,  I  do  not  know.  A  writer  for  one  of  the  Rangoon 
newspapers  naively  describes  the  annexation  of  Burma  by  the  English 
as  "necessary"  and  this  "necessity"  has  deprived  the  Buddhist  buildings 
of  the  governmental  patronage  which  they  formerly  enjoyed. 

Aliout  six  miles  above  Mandalay,  near  the  Irawaddv.  stands  the 
foundation  of  a  pagoda  which  its  builder  intended  should  be  the  largest 
in  the  world.  It  was  begun  by  King  Bodopaya  in  1790,  after  an  unsuc- 
cessful campaign  against  Siam.  Tn  his  disappointment  his  mind  turned 
to  religion,  and  he  hoped  to  ''acquire  merit,"  as  the  Buddhists  say,  by 
the  erection  <of  this  temple.  The  structure  begins  with  four  galleries; 
the  first  is  five  hundred  feet  square,  and  each  succeeding  one  is  a  little 
higher  by  fifty  feet  less  in  diameter.  Then  the  base  of  the  pagoda 
proper,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square,  rises  to  a  height  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  feet.  The  entire  building,  as  planned,  would  have 
reached  to  a  height  of  five  hundred  feet,  but  the  labor  expended  had 
become  so  great  that  the  people  complained  and  he  was  compelled  to 
abandon  the  enterprise.  He  was  warned  by  the  experience  of  a  former 
king  whose  extravagance  gave  rise  to  the  proverb,  "The  pagoda  is 
finished  and  the  country  is  ruined."  King  Bodopaya  is  not  the  only 
"captain  of  industry"  who  has  attempted  to  "acquire  merit"  by  con- 
structing monumental  buildings  with  the  labor  of  others,  but  he  was 
not  so  successful  as  some  of  our  trust  magnates  have  been. 

To  match  this  great  pagoda  a  bell  was  cast  weighing  ninety  tons,  said 
to  be  the  largest  sound  bell  in  the  world.  The  great  bell  of  Moscow  is 
larger,  but  is  cracked.  The  MingooD  bell,  as  this  one  near  Mandalay 
is  called,  is  eighteen  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  nine  feet  at  the  top 
and  thirty-one  feet  in  height  to  the  top  of  the  shackle.  Tt  was  former- 
ly supported  on  immense  teak  wood  beams,   but   the   foundation   of 


.1  J.) 


THE    OLD    WOULD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


one  of  these  gave  away  and  for  years  one  side  of  the  bell  rested  on 
the  ground.  Lord  Curzon,  while  viceroy  of  India,  caused  the  bell  to 
be  suspended  from  iron  beams  and  put  a  roof  over  it. 

The  Buddhist  priests  seem  to  have  made  Mandalay  their  Mecca,  for 
«»f  the  fifty-seven  thousand-  in  Burma,  more  than  seven  thousand  re- 


BURMESE  FAMILY. 

side  there.  The  Buddhist  priesthood  is  the  greatest  mendicant  order 
in  the  world,  the  members  of  it  being  pledged  to  live  by  begging. 
Having  occasion  to  ride  out  early  one  morning  we  saw  a  hundred  or 
more  bareheaded,  barefooted,  their  only  garb  a  yellow  robe,  carrying 
their  rice  bowls  from  door  to  door.    They  can  not  ask  for  food  by  word 


BURMA    AND    BUDDHISM  243 

of  mouth;  they  simply  hold  ou1  the  bowl  and  if  food  is  denied,  they 

move  silently  to  another  house  They  arc  permitted  to  own  no 
property  except  a  robe,  a  howl,  a  leather  mat,  a  razor,  a  needle,  a 
fan  and  a  filter-cup.  They  must  live  under  a  live  unless  someone 
furnishes  them  a  house  and  must  live  on  roots  and  herbs  unless  bet- 
ter food  is  given  them.  They  have  no  parishes  or  congregations, 
luil  arc  expected  to  spend  their  lives  in  meditation,  free  from  all 
worldly  cares,  except  when  engaged  in  expounding  Buddhistic  writ- 
ing or  in  teaching  the  young.  They  live,  as  a  rule,  in  monasteries,  built 
for  them  by  pious  Buddhists,  and  from  what  we  saw  of  these  buildings 
no  one  would  accuse  them  of  being  surrounded  by  luxury.  These  monas- 
teries rest  upon  posts  some  distance  above  the  ground,  and  each  room 
has  an  outside  door  about  large  enough  for  one  to  enter  upon  his  hands 
and  knees. 

I  visited  one  of  these  monasteries  at  Rangoon  in  company  with  a 
native  Christian  whose  father  was  half  Chinese.  To  my  surprise  the  firsrt 
priest  whom  I  met  was  an  Englishman  who  turned  Buddhist  five  years 
ago  and  donned  the  yellow  robe.  "While  I  waited  for  the  native  priest  to 
whom  I  had  a  letter,  this  Englishman  gave  me  something  of  his  history 
and  a  brief  defense  of  his  new  faith.  He  came  from  London  six  years 
ago  as  a  ship  carpenter  and  a  year  after  adopted  Buddhism,  which,  he 
explained  to  me,  does  not  require  one  to  believe  anything.  "While  his 
parents  were  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  had  never  con- 
nected himself  with  any  church,  and,  being  an  agnostic,  the  doctrines 
of  Buddha  appealed  to  him.  He  described  his  adopted  religion  as  one  of 
works  rather  than  faith,  and  declared  that  the  slums  of  Christendom 
had  no  counterpart  in  Burma.  The  visitor,  however,  sees  everywhere 
poverty  and  squalor  which  can  only  be  paralleled  in  the  most  destitute 
portions  of  our  great  cities,  and  nowhere  the  comfort  and  refinement 
which  are  general  in  the  United  States. 

Buddhism  is  reformed  Hinduism  and  in  its  teachings  presents  a 
higher  system  of  ethics  than  the  religion  from  which  it  sprung.  Gau- 
tama, called  the  Buddha  or  the  Enlightened,  wTas  born  behveen  five  and 
six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  and  wTas  of  the  Brahmin  caste.  Not 
satisfied  with  the  teachings  of  the  Hindu  philosopher  concerning  life, 
he  went  into  seclusion  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  and  devoted  himself  to 
meditation.  Six  years  later  he  announced  his  doctrine,  destined  to  im- 
press so  profoundly  the  thought  of  the  Orient.  Accepting  the  Hindu 
theory  that  the  soul  passes  from  person  to  person,  and  even  from  the 
human  being  to  the  animal  and  back,  he  offered  Nirvana  as  a  final 
release  from  this  tiresome  and  endless  change.    Nirvana,  a  state  of 


■:\\  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

unconsciousness  which  follows  the  absorption  of  the  individual  .-(ml  in 
the  soul  of  the  universe.   This  was  the  end  to  be  sought,  and  no  wonder 

it  came  as  a  relief  to  those  whose  philosophy  taught  the  perpetual  tran- 
sition of  the  soul  through  man  and  beast  and  bird  and  reptile.  The 
means  of  reaching  Nirvana  was  through  the  renunciation  of  self.  Life 
he  conceived  to  be  prolonged  misery,  infinitely  drawn  out,  and  love  of 
self  he  declared  to  be  the  root  of  all  evil.  So  long  as  one  loves  life. 
he  argued,  he  can'not  eseape  from  the  bondage  of  existence.  In  the 
entire  elimination  of  self  by  the  relinquishment  of  a  desire  for  a  sepa- 
rate existence  here  or  hereafter — in  this  alone  could  he  find  a  path  to 
Nirvana. 

The  next  forty-five  years  of  his  life  he  spent  in  expounding  and 
elaborating  his  doctrines,  in  formulating  rules  and  in  perfecting  the 
details  of  his  system.  Many  of  his  precepts  are  admirable.  For  instance, 
he  divides  progress  toward  the  blissful  state  into  three  stages.  In  the 
first,  he  puts  those  who  abstain  from  evil  from  fear  of  punishment: 
these  he  commends,  though  he  considers  the  motive  comparatively  low. 
In  the  second  stage  are  those  who,  passing  from  negative  harmlessness 
to  helpfulness,  do  good  from  hope  of  reward;  these  he  praises  as  acting 
from  a  higher  motive  than  the  first.  In  the  third  state  the  seeker  after 
Nirvana  does  good,  not  for  hope  of  reward,  but  for  the  sake  of  love 
alone.  The  last  gift  love  has  to  give,  is  to  give  up  love  of  life  itself  and 
pass  from  further  change  to  changeless  changelessness. 

At  one  time  Buddhism  spread  over  India  and  promised  the  con- 
quest of  all  Asia.  Two  hundred  years  after  the  Buddhist's  death  a 
great  king,  Asoka,  sent  out  eighty-four  thousand  missionaries  and 
the  doctrines  of  Gautama  were  accepted  as  far  east  as  China  and 
Japan,  and  as  far  south  as  Java.  But  the  wave  receded;  India 
returned  to  Hinduism,  China  to  Confucianism  and  Japan  to  Shinto- 
ism,  and  Mohammedanism  now  outnumbers  Buddhism  on  the 
Ganges.  The  Buddhists  still  hold  Burma,  Thibet  and*  Ceylon,  but 
even  in  these  countries  there  is  evidence  of  decline.  Kandy,  the 
capital  city  of  Ceylon,  has  the  distinction  of  guarding  a  "sacred 
tooth,"  thought  by  the  ignorant  to  be  one  of  the  eyeteeth  of  Buddha. 
It  is  kept  in  a  gold  and  jeweled  casket  enclosed  in  six  larger  ones 
and  is  an  object  of  worship,  but  the  more  intelligent  Buddhists  know 
that  it  is  a  fraud. 

At  Rangoon  I  found  a  Baptist  school,  conducted  by  Americans, 
with  nearly  nine  hundred  pupils,  and  learned  of  the  gratifying  suc- 
cess which  has  attended  missionary  work  in  Burma. 

And  yet,  there  is  a  Buddhist  propaganda  in  Europe  and  America! 


246 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


In  a  review  called  Buddhism,  published  at  Rangoon  by  the  Interna- 
tional Buddhist  Society,  I  read  that  Kaiser  Wilhelm  is  "alarmed" 
at  the  progress  that  this  religion  is  making  in  Germany,  and  I  also 
read  that  our  country  offers  a  promising  field  for  Buddhist  mission- 
ary -. 

A>  a  religion  of  agnosticism,  requiring  belief  in  neither  God  nor 
immortality,  nor  in  the  morality  taught  by  Christ,  it  may  appeal  to 
-oinc  who.  like  the  Englishman  whom  I  found  in  the  monastery,  have 
already  rejected  Christianity,  but  it  is  not  likely  to  appeal  to  those 
who  have  had  religious  experience.  Those  who  emphasize  good  works, 
and  fail  to  recognize  the  need  of  an  inspiring  faith  behind  the  works, 
may  take  refuge  in  the  teachings  of  Buddha  from  the  more  exacting 
requirements  of  the  Nazarene,  but  no  one  is  likely  to  be  led  astray 
who  compares  the  altruism^ the  philanthropy  and  the  benevolences  of 
Christianity  with  the  fruits  of  Buddhism.  To  live,  even  in  poverty, 
upon  the  labors  of  others  wTith  a  view  to  gaining  thus  an  earlier 
entrance  into  blissful  unconsciousness  is  not  so  unselfish  after  all,  as 
to  spend  one's  self  in  the  service  of  his  fellows  and  to  convert  life  into 
an  exhaustless  fountain. 


BRONZE    IMAGE    OF    BTTDPIT  \,    BUILT    1252 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


EASTERN  INDIA. 


We  have  at  least  reached  India — and  what  extremes  are  here! 
Southern  India  penetrates  the  Indian  Ocean  and  is  so  near  the 
Equator  that  the  inhabitants  swelter  under  the  heat  of  a  peipetual 
summer,  while  the  rocky  sentinels  that  guard  the  northern  frontier 
are  clad  in  the  ice  of  an  eternal  winter.  As  might  be  expected  in  a 
land  which  has  every  altitude  from  sea  level  to  nearly  thirty  thousand 
feet,  one  finds  all  varieties  of  vegetation,  from  the  delicate  fern  of  the 
tropics  to  the  sturdy  edelweiss  that  blossoms  in  the  snow — from  the 
grain  and  orchards  of  Agra,  Oudh  and  the  Punjab  to  the  cotton,  rice 
and  fruits  of  Bombay,  Calcutta  and  Madras.  The  extremes  are  as 
noticeable  among  the  people  as  in  nature's  realm.  In  learning  there 
is  a  great  gulf  between  the  Hindu  pundit  and  the  ignorant  ryot;  there 
is  a  wide  sea  between  the  wealth  of  the  native  prince  and  the  poverty 
of  the  masses ;  and  there  is  a  boundless  ocean  between  the  government 
and  the  people. 

Eastern  India  is  entered  through  Calcutta,  a  city  of  more  than  a 
million  inhabitants  which  has  been  built  up  under  British  occupancy. 
Tt  is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Bengal  and  the  winter  capital  of 
British  India.  I  say  winter  capital  because  the  higher  English  officials 
have  their  headquarters  at  Simla,  eight  thousand  feet  up  in  the 
Himalayas,  during  eight  months  of  the  year.  Calcutta  is  on  the 
Hooghly  river,  one  of  the  numerous  mouths  of  the  Ganges;  and  the 
Ganges,  it- may  be  added,  is  a  little  disappointing  to  one  who  has  read 
about  it  from  youth.  Instead  of  being  a  large  river,  flowing  down 
from  the  Himalayas  directly  to  the  sea,  it  is  neither  of  great  length 
nor  of  great  width.  It  runs  for  hundreds  of  miles  along  the  foot  of 
the  range  and  joins  the  Brahmaputra,  which  comes  from  an  oppo- 
site direction  and  apparently  is  much  longer.  The  mouths  of  the 
joint  stream  form  a  delta  like  that  of  the  Nile,  which  at  the  coast  is 
something  like  two  hundred  miles  wide. 

247 


248 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Lacking  the  antiquity  of  the  cities  of  the  interior,  Calcutta  does  not 

p many  things  of  interest  to  the  tourist,  no  elaborate  tombs,  no 

massive  mosques  and  few  temples  of  importance,  although  all  shades 
of  religion  are  represented  here.  There  is  a  very  pretty  Jain  temple  in 
the  suburbs,  and  in  the  city  there  is  a  Hindu  temple  where  goats  are 
offered  as  a  sacrifice,  but  the  center  of  Hinduism  is  at  Benares,  while 
Agra.  Delhi  and  Lucknow  furnish  the  finest  specimens  of  the  taste 
of  the  Mohammedan  rulers.  There  are  at  Calcutta  some  fine  public 
buildings  and  less  pretentious  private  blocks,  some  beautiful  parks 
and  a  very  extensive  museum. 


CALCUTTA  BURNING  GHAT. 


Tn  this  museum  one  can  learn  more  of  the  various  races  of  India, 
of  their  dress,  implements  and  weapons,  more  of  the  animal  and 
insect  life,  more  of  India's  mineral  wealth,  more  of  her  woods,  stones 
and  marbles,  more  of  her  agricultural  products  and  manufactures 
than  he  can  in  weeks  'of  travel.  He  sees  here  mounted  specimens  of 
bug  and  butterfly,  bird,  fish  and  beast.  It  is  the  very  Mecca  of  the 
student  and  we  saw  a  number  of  groups  thus  engaged.  Among  the 
insects  there  are  several  which  illustrate  the  mimicry  of  nature  to  a 
marvelous  degree.   Some  are  like  dried  grass,  some  like  moss  and  some 


EASTERN    INDIA  249 

like-  leaves.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  is  the  leaf  insect  which  ran 
scarcely  be  detected  from  a  leaf  even  after  it  has  been  pointed  out. 
There  is  a  mountain  grouse  which  turns  white  in  the  winter,  and  in 
some  countries  a  hare  which  undergoes  the  same  change.  In  Ceylon 
there  are  crabs  with  legs  like  pieces  of  coral  and  a  color  closely 
resembling  the  sand  upon  which  they  crawl,  but  the  leaf  insect  sur- 
passes them  all.  Not  only  is  its  color  identical  with  the  leaf,  but  its 
body  and  wings  are  veined  and  ribbed  like  a  leaf;  even  rust  spots 
could  be  found  on  some  of  them.  We  could  hardly  have  believed  our  own 
eyes  had  we  not  seen  some  of  these  insects  alive  and  some  of  the 
young  just  hatched. 

The  botanical  garden,  while  not  equal  in  variety  or  beauty  to  the 
gardens  at  Buitenzorg  and  Kandy,  has  one  object  of  growing  interest, 
viz.,  a  gigantic  banyan  tree.  This  tree  is  nearly  a  century  and  a 
half  old  and  shades  a  spot  of  ground  almost  a  thousand  feet  in  circum- 
ference. Great  arms  run  out  from  the  parent  trunk  and  these  are  sup- 
ported by  four  hundred  and  sixty-four  aerial  roots  or  minor  trunks, 
some  of  which  are  several  feet  in  diameter.  Seen  from  a  distance  the 
tree  presents  a" very  symmetrical  appearance,  and,  as  it  is  still  growing, 
it  is  likely  to  become,  if  it  is  not  already,  the  largest  tree  in  the  world. 

The  zoological  garden  contains  some  excellent  specimens.  We  were 
especially  interested  in  the  Bengal  tigers,  in  a  red-nosed  African 
mandrill  (which  looks  like  a  cross  between  a  hog  and  an  ape),  and 
in  the  monkeys.  Three  of  the  latter  belong  to  the  shouting  variety — 
at  least,  they  do  shout.  When  the  attendant  gives  the  cue,  they  set  up 
such  a  chorus  of  ear-splitting  yells  as  one  seldom  hears.  The  echoing 
and  re-echoing  makes  a  din  before  which  the  noise  of  a  football  game 
seems  tame.  While  not  a  football  enthusiast,  I  venture  the  suggestion 
that  an  American  team  would  do  well  to  secure  the  assistance  of  these 
rooters,  for  they  could  work  up  the  necessary  enthusiasm  on  short 
notice  and  with  a  great  saving  to  the  throats  of  the  students. 

On  the  streets  of  Calcutta  one  sees  Indian  life  in  all  its  form.-. 
The  coolies  wear  the  lightest  possible  clothing  and  carry  enormous 
burdens  on  their  heads.  I  saw  eight  of  them  hurrying  down  the 
street  at  a  fast  walk  bearing  a  grand  piano  on  their  heads.  In  another 
place  one  man  carried  a  large  Saratoga  trunk  on  his  head  down  the 
hotel  stairs.  He  had  to  have  assistance  in  lifting  and  lowering  it. 
but  when  it  was  once  balanced  on  his  head  he  marched  off  with  it 
with  apparent  ease.  The  coolie  women  also  carry  burdens  upon  their 
heads,  water  jars  being  their  specialty.  Two  and  even  three  of  these, 
one  on  top  of  nnother,  are  sometimes  carried  in  this  way.    The  brass 


250 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


water  pot  is,  by  the  way,  never  out  of  sight  in  India;  it  is  to  be  seen 
everywhere,  and  the  scouring  of  these  pots  seems  to  give  employment 
for  leisure  moments. 

While  much  carrying  is  done  on  the  head  and  on  the  pole,  carts  of 


THE    MAHARAJA    OF    MOURBHARAG — AN    INDIAN"    PRINCE 


;ill  kind-  are  numerous.  The  water  buffalo  is  to  be  found  in  India. 
I>ui  he  divides  the  honors  with  the  Indian  bullock  as  a  beasl  oi 
burden.  The  [ndian  bullock  is  a  mild-eyed  beast,  usually  white  or 
lighl   in  color,  and  has  a  hump  on  the  shoulders  which  seems  to  be 


EASTERN    INDIA 


251 


made  expressly  for  the  yoke.  There  is  a  small  variety  of  the  bullock, 
which  is  used  for  drawing  passenger  carts,  and  some  of  these  are  so 
fast  that  they  are  entered  in  trotting  races. 

The  merchants  of  India  arc  a  shrewd  and  persistent  class.    They 
press  their  wares  upon  one  at  the  hotels  and  in  their  .-hops,  and  the 


INDIAN    PRINCESS. 


purchaser  never  know-  whether  he  is  buying  at  a  bargain  or  paying 
two  or  three  prices.  It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  for  the  dealer  to  begin 
negotiations  with  the  assertion  that  he  has  but  one  price  and  that  his 
conscience  will  not  allow  him  to  ask  more  than  a  fair  price,  and  cod- 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


elude  by  selling  al  a  twenty-five  or  fifty  per  cent  discount.  It  may  be 
that  natives  are  treated  differently,  but  the  foreigner  is  likely  to  be 
charged  "what  the  traffic  will  bear." 

You  can  not  judge  of  the  value  of  a  merchant's  stock  by  the  size 
or  appearance  of  iiis  store.  He  may  have  a  little  booth  open  in  front, 
with  no  show  windows,  but  when  he  begins  to  bring  out  his  trunks 
and  bundles,  he  may  exhibit  jewelry  worth  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, or  rich  embroideries  worth  their  weight  in  gold.  The  merchant 
sits  cross-legged  on  the  floor  and  spreads  out  the  wares  which  his 
attendant-  bring,  beguiling  you  the  while  with  stories  of  Lord  So  and 
5  -  purchase,  or  Lady  What's  Her  Name's  order,  or  of  a  check  for 
thousands  handed  him  by  an  American  millionaire. 

The  native  buildings  are,  as  a  rule,  neither  beautiful  nor  cleanly. 


THE    GREAT    BANYAN    TREE CALCUTTA. 


The  little  shops  that  open  on  the  street  exhibit  food  and  vegetables 
arranged  in  heap-,  the  vendor  apparently  indifferent  to  dust  and  flies. 
The  houses  are  generally  of  adobe,  plastered  with  mud  and  without 
floor-.  In  the  warmer  sections  of  the  country  they  are  built  of  mat- 
ting and  bamboo.  The  rich  Indians  live  in  substantial  homes  with 
high  ceilings,  tile  floors  and  spacious  verandas,  but  these  are  very  few 
compared  with  the  mass  of  the  poor. 

The  Indian  women  of  the  higher  classes  are  in  seclusion  all  the 
time.  They  seldom  leave  their  homes  and  when  they  do  venture  out 
they  travel  in  covered  chairs  or  closed  carriages.  This  custom  was 
brought  into  India  by  the  Mohammedan  conquerors,  but  it  has  been 
generally  adopted  by  Hindu  society.  There  is  a  growing  sentiment 
among  the  educated  Hindus  against  this  practice,  so  burdensome  to 


254  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

woman,  but  custom  yield-  slowly  to  new  idea-.  At  Calcutta  we 
met  al  Indian  ladies  of  high  social  rank  who,  in  their  home  life, 

have  felt  the  influence  of  western  ideas  and  who  have  to  some  extent 
ned  the  rigors  of  the  zenana  (seclusion).  Two  of  these  ladies, 
- — one  a  princess — wen-  daughters  of  the  famous  Keshub  Chunder  Sen. 
the  great  Hindu  reformer,  whose  writing  made  a  profound  impression 
on  the  religious  thought  of  the  world.  In  the  group  was  also  a 
daughter-in-law  of  Mr.  Sen"-,  a  brilliant  woman  who  was  left  the 
widow  of  a  native  prince  at  the  age  of  thirteen  and  who  recently 
-hocked  the  orthodox  Hindus  by  a  second  marriage.  I  mention  these 
ladies  because  they  represent  the  highest  type  of  Indian  womanhood, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  any  country,  in  a  group  of  the 
same  size,  more  beauty,  culture  and  refinement. 

The  principal  article  of  feminine  dress  is  the  sarai,  a  long  strip  of 
cotton  or  silk,  part  of  which  is  wrapped  about  the  body  to  form  a 
-kirt.  while  the  rest  is  draped  over  the  head  and  shoulders  in  graceful 
folds.  This  garment  lends  itself  to  ornamentation  and  is  usually  em- 
broidered  along  the  edges,  sometimes  with  silver  and  gold.  We  have 
cot  found  in  our  travel-  a  more  becoming  and  attractive  costume. 

The  dress  of  the  men  is  so  varied  that  description  is  impossible. 
One  form  of  dress  resembles  the  Roman  toga.  Many  wear  trousers 
made  by  mysterious  windings  and  foldings  of  a  long  strip  of  cloth, 
others  wear  loose  pantaloons.  The  coats  are  as  multiform,  a  long, 
close-fitting  one  being  the  most  popular.  But  the  hat  is  the  article  to 
which  most  care  is  given.  While  the  fez  is  popular,  it  is  not  so  con- 
spicuous  as  the  turban.  The  latter  is  to  be  seen  in  all  colors,  shapes 
and  styles.  Some  of  the  educated  Indians  have  adopted  the  European 
dress,  but  the  change  in  costume  has  not  been  rapid. 

Calcutta  is  one  of  the  educational  centers  of  India,  and  one  finds 
in  the  city  many  of  the  leaders  of  thought,  educational  and  political. 
The  University  of  Calcutta  grants  degrees  and  affiliates  to  itself  the 
colleges  wlu.se  students  are  preparing  for  the  university  examinations. 
des  the  university  there  are  medical,  law  and  technical  schools 
which  draw  young  men  from  the  entire  country.  The  position  taken 
by  Lord  Curzon  in  the  matter  of  higher  education  aroused  so  much 
opposition  among  the  native  population  that  an  association  was 
formed  two  years  ago  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  students  desiring  to  study  abroad.  Last  year  fourteen 
students  were  selected  and  sent  to  different  countries.  This  year  forty- 
four  are  going,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  these  at  a  public 
reception  given  them  at  the  towrn  hall. 


EASTERN     INDIA 


■;:,:. 


This  meeting  interested  me  very  much.  It  was  opened  with  a  prayer 
by  Editor  Sen,  of  the  Indian- Mirror,  a  liberal  Hindu,  and  i(  was  such 

a  prayer  as  might  have  been 
offered  in  any  American 
church.  It  was  so  brief  that  I 
quote  it  in  full: 

"We  thank  Thee,  0  God, 
that  by  Thy  blessing  those 
young  men  whom  we  sent 
abroad  for  studv  last  year  are 
doing  their  work  well  and 
have  by  Thy  grace  been  kept 
in  the  right  path.  We  are  now 
met  to  bid  farewell  to  a  much 
larger  number  of  our  youths, 
who  are  shortly  leaving  these 
shores  for  study  in  distant 
foreign  -  lands.  We  ask  Thy 
abundant  blessing  on  them, 
and  we  humbly  beseech  Thee 
to  protect  them  in  their  trav- 
els by  sea  and  land  and  to 
bring  them  all  safely  to  their 
respective  destinations.  May 
they  be  diligent  in  their 
studies,  obedient  to  their 
teachers,  grateful  to  those  by 
whose  help  they  are  being 
sent  abroad,  and  blameless  in 
their  conduct.  May  the  love 
and  fear  of  God  rule  their 
keshub  chundee  sen.  hearts,  and  may  they  return 

to  us  and  to  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  them  in  due  course  crowned 
with  full  success  and  filled  with  an  earnest  desire  to  labor  for  the  good 
of  their  country  and  their  poorer  brethren.  We  commend  them  to  Thy 
gracious  keeping  as  we  now  bid  them  a  hearty  farewell,  and  beseech 
Thee  to  help  us  all  to  live  and  work  for  the  glory  of  Thy  name  and  the 
good  of  our  fellow  men  now  and  always." 

Most  of  the  students  were  going  to  Japan — one  of  the  many  indica- 
tions of  that  country's  increasing  influence  in  the  Orient — some  were 
going  to  England  and  a  few  to  America.     Those  bound  for  America 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND     ITS    WAYS 


called  upon  me  later  at  the  hotel,  and  I  found  them  an  earnest  and 
ambitious  group.  They  had,  as  all  the  Indians  whom  we  met  seemed 
to  have,  a  high  opinion  of  our  country  and  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of 
the  benefits  which  they  hoped  to  derive  from  their  stay  in  the  United 
States.  These,  and  other  students  with  whom  I  came  in  contact,  im- 
pressed me  as  exceedingly  patriotic  and  anxious  to  turn  their  informa- 
tion and  then*  ability  to  the  advantage  of  their  country. 

In  Calcutta  there  are  a  number  of  Indians,  who  have  won  promi- 
nence in  various  spheres  of  activity.  Editor  Sen,  to  whom  I  have  already 
referred,   is  one  of    the  most  influential   of  the   native   editors  and 


THE    BULL    CART    IN    INDIA 

writers;  Editor  Banerjee,  of  the  Bengalee,  is  both  a  writer  and  an 
orator,  and  the  editor  of  the  Patrika  has  made  his  paper  an  exponent 
of  advanced  political  thought.  The  Tagore  family  has  furnished 
several  men  prominent  in  religious,  literary  and  official  life;  education 
has  found  a  patron  in  the  Roy  family,  and  Dr.  Bose  has  won  more 
than  a  national  reputation  in  science. 

Those  who  visit  Calcutta  can  not  afford  to  miss  the  side  trip  to 
Darjeeling,  a  summer  resort  perched  upon  the  foothills  of  the  Hima- 
layas. The  journey  is  rather  fatiguing — three  hours  to  the  Ganges, 
then  an  all  night  ride  to  the  foot  of  the  range  and  then  an  eight  hour 


EASTERN    INDIA 


•j.v, 


climb  on  a  two-foot  gauge  up  the  mountain  side,  but  it  amply  repays 
the  effort.  We  count  this  experience  among  the  richest  that  we  have 
enjoyed.  '  The  city  of  Darjeeling  is  about  seven  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  the  sides  of  the  Himalayas  are  so  steep  at  this  point  that  it 
is  only  fifty  miles  down  the  zig-zag  little  railroad  to  the  plain  where 


THIBETANS,   AS  SEEN   AT   DARJEELING. 

the  elevation  is  but  two  or  three  hundred  feet.  I  do  not  know  where 
one  can  find  more  of  the  grand  and  picturesque  in  the  same  distance 
than  on  this  narrow  gauge  that  threads  its  way  up  the  rocky  sides  of 
this  most  stupendous  of  mountain  ranges. 


258 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AM)    ITS    WAYS 


Darjeeling  is  so  near  Thibet,  Nepal,  ►Sikkim  and  Bhutan  that  one 

finds  here  a  motley  variety  of  types  and  sees  something  of  the  native 
life  of  the  forbidden  land  that  stretches  along  the  northern  border  of 
India.     The  mountain  tribes  are  sturdier  in  build,  coarser  in  feature 


VIEW  OF  THE  HIMALAYAS.  AS  SEEN    FROM   DARJEELING. 

and  lighter  in  color  than  the  people  of  the  lowlands,  and  we  saw  some 
types  thai  strongly  resembled  the  American  Indian. 

Bui  to  return  to  the  mountains  themselves;  the  view  from  Darjeeling 
La  unsurpassed.     The  Kinchinjunga  Peaks  rise  to  a  height  of  28,156 


•     EASTERN    I M  » I  \  259 

feel  above  the  .sea,  or  nearly  twice  as  high  as  Pike's  Peak,  and  though 
forty-five  miles  distant,  are  clear  and  distinct.  The  summits,  seen 
above  the  clouds,  seem  to  have  no  terrestrial  base,  but  hang  as  if  sus- 
pended in  mid  air.  The  best  view  is  obtained  from  Tiger  Hill,  six 
miles  from  Darjeeling  and  two  thousand  feet  higher.  We  made  this 
trip  one  morning,  rising  at  three  o'clock,  and  reaching  (be  observa- 
tion point  a  little  before  sunrise.  I  wish  I  were  able  to  convey  to  the 
reader  the  impression  made  upon  us. 

While  all  about  us  was  yet  in  darkness,  the  snowy  robe  which 
clothes  the  upper  twelve  thousand  feet  of  the  range,  caughl  a  tint  of 
pearl  from  the  first  rays  of  the  sun,  and,  as  we  watched,  the  orb  of 
day,  rising  like  a  ruby  globe  from  a  lake  of  dark  bine  mist,  gilded 
peak  after  peak  until  at  Last  we  saw  Mt.  Everest,  earth's  loftiest  point, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  away  and  nearly  a  thousand  feet  higher 
than  Kinchinjunga.  We  saw  the  shadows  fleeing  from  (be  light  like 
bunted  culprits  and  biding  in  the  deep  ravines,  and  we  marked  the 
triumph  of  the  dawn  as  it  swept  down  the  valleys. 

How  puny  seem  the  works  of  man  when  brought  into  comparison 
with  majestic  nature!  His  groves,  what  pigmies  when  measured 
against  the  virgin  forest  !  His  noblesl  temples,  bow  insignificant  when 
contrasted  with  the  masonry  of  the  hills!  What  canvas  can  imitate 
the  dawn  and  sunset!  What  inlaid  work  can  match  the  mosaics  of 
the  mountains! 

Is  it  blind  chance  that  gives  these  glimpses  of  the  sublime?  And 
was  it  blind  chance  that  clustered  vast  reservoirs  about  inaccessible 
summits  and  stored  water  to  refresh  the  thirsty  plains  through  hidden 
veins  and  surface  streams? 

No  wonder  man  from  the  beginning  of  history  lias  turned  to  the 
heights  for  inspiration,  for  here  is  (lie  spirit  awed  by  the  infinite  and 
here  one  sees  both  the  mystery  of  creation  and  the  manifestations  of 
the  Father's  loving  kindness.  Here  man  finds  a  witness,  unimpeach- 
able though  silent,  to  the  omnipotence,  the  omniscience  and  the  good- 
ness of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

HINDU  INDIA. 

Before  beginning  the  trip  through  the  interior,  a  paragraph  must 
be  given  to  Indian  travel.  There  are  no  Pullman  sleepers  in.  this 
country,  and  the  tourist  must  carry  his  bedding  with  him.  Night 
trains  have  compartments  containing  broad  seats  which  can  be  used 
as  couches  and  hanging  shelves  upon  which  one  may  lie.  The  traveler 
carries  his  own  blanket,  pillow,  sheet,  towels,  soap,  etc.,  and  occasionally 
has  to  rely  on  these  at  hotels  as  well  as  on  the  trains.  The  cars  are 
entered  from  the  side,  and  one  must  take  his  chance  of  waking  at  the 
right  station,  for  there  is  no  official  to  give  him  warning.  In  India  it 
is  customary  for  foreigners  to  take  an  Indian  servant  with  them  who 
acts  as  an  interpreter  and  looks  after  the  baggage — and  looking  after 
the  baggage  is  no  easy  task  in  this  part  of  the  British  empire.  After 
we  had  made  one  short  trip  without  assistance  we  were  glad  to  yield 
to  the  custom,  and  Goolab,  a  Calcutta  Mussulman,  proved  himself  an 
invaluable  aid  in  dealing  with  the  baggage  coolies,  whose  language  we 
could  not  understand  and  whose  charges  vary  from  the  legal  rate  as 
the  minimum  to  three  or  four  times  that  if  the  tourist  shows  himself 
a  novice  at  the  business. 

The  hotels  of  India  are  declared  by  the  guide  books  to  be  bad,  and 
one  does  not  feel  like  disputing  these  authorities  after  having  made 
the  trip.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  is  no  difference  between 
them,  for  in  several  places  we  found  comfortable  rooms  and  in  some 
places  palatable  food.  Everywhere  we  were  so  interested  in  what  we 
saw  that  we  could  endure  almost  any  kind  of  accommodations,  but  at 
one  place  the  fare  was  so  unsatisfactory  that  we  were  reduced  to  eggs 
and  toast.  Goolab,  overhearing  some  mutterings  of  discontent,  took 
it  upon  himself  to  report  in  the  hope  of  securing  some  improvement, 
and  the  clerk  asked  me  for  particulars.  I  told  him  that  I  had  not 
intended  to  make  any  complaint,  but  that  as  he  was  good  enough 
to  inquire,  I  would  say  that  we  did  not  like  the  cooking;  that  the 
crackers  were  sometimes  mouse-eaten  and  that  we  found  worms  in  the 
cabbage.     Tie  thought  that  the  mice  were  inexcusable,  but,  as  if  the 

260 


HINDU    INDIA 


261 


question  disposed  of  the  matter,  asked:  "The  worm  was  dead,  wasn't 
it?"    I  was  compelled  to  admit  that  it  was. 

Leaving  Calcutta  we  sought  the  ancient  city  of  Benares,  which  bears 
the  distinction  of  being  the  center  of  Hinduism.  In  fact,  it  has  been 
the  religious  capital  of  India  for  two  thousand  years  or  more. 

At  Sarnath,  just  outside  Benares,  stands  the  first  Buddhist  pagoda, 
said  to  have  been  erected  nearly  five  hundred  years  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  era  to  commemorate  a  spot  in  the  deer  park 
where  Buddha  taught  his  disciples.  Recent  excavations  near  there 
have  brought  to  light  one  of  the  Asoka  pillars  which,  though  unfor- 
tunately broken,  still  bears  testimony  to  the  skill  of  the  sculptor  as 
well  as  to  the  zeal  of  the  great  Buddhist  king.     But  these  ruins  are 


THE    CAMEL    IN    INDIA. 


all  that  is   left    of   Buddhism   in   this  vicinity,   where    Buddha   lived 

and  taught  and  where  his  doctrines  were  once  triumphant,  for  Hindu- 
ism has  virtually  rooted  out  Buddhism,  adopting,  it  is  said,  the  device 
of  making  him  one  of  the  incarnations  of  their  own  god. 

At  Benares  one  sees  idolatry  in  its  grossest  and  most  repulsive  forms, 
and  it  is  therefore  as  interesting  to-day  to  the  student  of  the  world's 
great  religions  as  to  the  devoted  Hindu  who  travels  hundreds  of  miles 
over  dusty  roads  to  bathe  in  the  Ganges,  whose  waters  he  considers 
sacred.  Benares  is  built  upon  the  north  bank  of  the  Ganges,  and  it  is 
estimated  that  each  year  it  is  visited  by  a  million  pilgrims.  When  more 
than  three  hundred  miles  from  the  city,  we  saw  the  caravan  of  one 
of  the  Maharaja  (Maharaja  is  the  title  borne  by  native  princes)  on  its 
way  to  the  river.     There  were    five    elephants,  a  dozen  camels    and 


262 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


twenty  or  thirty  bull  carts,  besides  numerous  pack  animals  and  horses. 
The  trip  could  not  be  made  in  much  less  than  two  months,  and  all 
this  for  the  sake  of  a  bath  in  the  waters  of  the  sacred  river. 

The  bank  of  the  Ganges  is  lined  for  a  long  distance  with  bathing 
ghats  (as  the  steps  leading  to  the  river  are  called),  and  at  one  point 
there  is  a  burning  ghat,  where  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  cremated. 
Cremation  is  universal  among  the  Hindus,  sandalwood  being  used 
where  the  relatives  can  afford  it.  Taking  a  boat,  as  is  customary,  we 
rowed  up  and  down  the  river  in  the  early  morning,  and  such  a  sight! 
Down  the  steps  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  came  the  bathers,  men, 


CI  LTIVATIV;  PSYCHIC  POWER  ON  SPIKES  AT  BENARES,  INDIA. 


7omen  and  children,  and  up  the  steps  went  a  constant  stream  of  those 
who  had  finished  their  ablutions.  Most  of  them  carried  upon  their 
heads  water  pots  of  shining  brass,  and  some  carried  bundles  of  wear- 
ing apparel.  The  bathing  is  done  leisurely  as  if  according  to  ritual, 
with  frequent  dippings;  wrater  is  poured  out  to  the  sun  and  prayers 
are  said.  The  lame,  the  halt  and  the  blind  are  there,  some  picking  their 
way  with  painful  step,  others  assisted  by  friends.  Here,  a  leper 
sought  healing  in  the  stream ;  near  him  a  man  with  emaciated  form 
mixed  his  medicine  with  the  holy  wrater,  and  not  far  off  a  fakir  with 
matted  hair  prayed  beneath  hi.15  big  umbrella.    On  one  of  the  piers  a 


HINDU    INDIA 


V\:\ 


young  man   was  cultivating  psychic  power  by  standing  on  one  leg 
while  he  told  his  beads  with  his  face  toward  the  sun. 

Dressing  and  undressing  is  a  simple  matter  with  the  mass  of  the 
people.  Men  and  women  emerging  from  the  water  throw  a  clean  robe 
around  themselves,  and  then  unloosing  the  wet  garment,  wring  it 
out  and  are  ready  to  depart.  Those  who  bring  water  pots  fill  them 
from  the  stream,  out  of  which  they  have  recently  come,  and  carry 
them  away  as  if  some  divinity  protected  the  water  from  pollution.  As 
the  river  contains  countless  dead  and  receives  the  filth  of  the  city  as 


BATHING    GHAT    OX    THE    GANGES. 


well  as  the  flowers  cast  into  it  by  worshipers,  it  requires  a  strong  faith 
to  believe  it  free  from  lurking  disease  and  seeds  of  pestilence. 

AVhen  we  reached  the  burning  ghat,  we  found  one  body  on  the 
funeral  pyre  and  another  soaking  in  the  water  as  a  preparation  for 
burning.  So  highly  is  the  Ganges  revered  that  aged  people  are 
brought  there  that  they  may  die,  if  possible,  in  the  water.  While  we 
were  watching,  a  third  body  was  prepared  for  the  burning,  and  it  was 
so  limp  that  death  could  not  have  occurred  long  before.  While  the 
flames  were  consuming  those  three  corpses,  we  saw  coming  down  the 


264 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


steps  a  man  carrying  the  body  of  a  child,  apparently  about  two  years 
old,  wrapped  in  a  piece  of  thin  cotton  cloth.  (The  children  of  the 
poor  arc  buried  in  the  stream  because  of  the  cost  of  wood.)  The  man 
bore  his  lifeless  burden  to  a  little  barge  and  made  the  corpse  fast  to  a 
heavy  stone  slab.  The  boatman  then  pushed  out  from  the  shore,  and 
when  the  middle  of  the  stream  was  reached  the  man  in  charge  of  the 
body  dropped  it  overboard,  and  the  burial  was  over. 


TUNDIT  SAKHARAM  GANESH. 

No  one  has  seen  India  until  he  has  seen  the  Ganges;  no  one  has 
seen  the  Ganges  until  he  has  seen  it  at  Benares;  and  no  one  who  has 
seen  the  Ganges  at  Benares  will  ever  forget  it. 

In  the  suburbs  of  the  city  stands  the  Durga  Temple,  better  known  as 
the  Monkey  Temple,  because  it  is  the  home  of  a  large  family  of  mon- 
keys,  which  are  regarded  as  sacred.    Photographs  <>f  the  temple  present 


HINDU    INDIA  265 

rather  an  attractive  appearance,  but  the  original  is  anything  but 
beautiful,  and  the  monkeys  and  general  filth  of  the  place  deprive  it  of 
all  appearance  of  a  place  of  worship. 

The  Golden  Temple,  however,  is  the  one  most  visited  by  tourists', 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  picture  a  less  inviting  place.  The  build- 
ings are  old  and  greasy,  and  the  narrow  streets  are  filled  with  images 
and  thronged  with  beggars.  One  finds  his  interest  in  missionary  work 
quickened  if  he  wanders  through  these  streets  and  sec-  tin-  offering 
of  incense  to  the  elephant  god  and  the  monkey  god,  and  to  images 
innumerable.  The  air  is  heavy  with  perfume  and  the  odor  of  decay- 
ing flowers,  and  one  jostles  against  the  sacred  bulls  as  he  threads  his 
way  through  the  crowd.  We  have  not  seen  in  any  other  land  such 
evidences  of '  superstition,  such  effort  to  ward  off  evil  spirits  and  to 
conciliate  idols.  The  educated  Hindus,  and  there  are  many  learned 
men  among  the  Hindus,  regard  these  idols  as  only  visible  representa- 
tions of  an  invisible  God,  but  the  masses  seem  to  look  no  farther  than 
the  ugly  images  before  which  they  bow. 

It  was  a  relief  to  find  near  this  dark  pool  of  idolatry  an  institution 
of  learning,  recently  founded,  which  promises  to  be  a  purifying  spring. 
I  refer  to  the  Central  Hindu  College,  of  which  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  the 
well  known  theosophist,  is  the  head.  Although  the  school  is  but  seven 
years  old,  it  already  includes  a  valuable  group  of  buildings  and  has 
some  five  hundred  students.  Among  the  professors  are  several  Eng- 
lishmen who  serve  without  compensation,  finding  sufficient  reward  in 
the  consciousness  of  service. 

Next  to  Benares  Allahabad  is  the  most  important  Hindu  center. 
The  city  is  on  the  Ganges,  at  its  junction  with  the  Jumna,  one  of  its 
longest  branches.  There  is  an  old  tradition  that  another  river,  flowing 
underground,  empties  into  the  Ganges  at  this  point,  and  the  place  is 
referred  to  as  the  junction  of  the  three  rivers.  The  great  Mogul  Akbar 
built  a  splendid  fort  where  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna  meet,  and 
probably  on  this  account  Allahabad  is  the  capital  of  the  United  Prov- 
inces of  Agra  and  Oudh.  Within  the  walls  of  the  fort  there  is  another 
of  the  Asoka  pillars,  a  very  well  preserved  one,  forty-nine  feet  high 
and  bearing  numerous  inscriptions,  among  which  are  the  famous 
edicts  of  Asoka,  issued  in  240  b.  c,  against  the  taking  of  life.  Within 
the  fort  in  a  subterranean  room  is  another  object  of  interest,  the 
Akhshai  Bar  or  undecaying  banyan  tree.  As  this  tree  is  described  by 
a  Chinese  pilgrim  of  the  seventh  century,  it  is  either  of  remarkable 
antiquity  'or  has  been  renewed  from  time  to  time. 

The  religious  importance  of  Allahabad  is  largely  due  to  a  fair  which 
is  held  there  every  year  and  which  on  every  twelfth  year  becomes  a 


260 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


national  event.  It  is  called  the  Mela,  and  last- January  brought  to  the 
city  a  crowd  estimated  at  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  millions.  This 
every-twelfth-year  fair  brings  together  not  only  the  devout  Hindus, 
who  come  as  a  matter  of  religious  duty,  and  innumerable  traders,  who 
at  such  times  find  a  market  for  their  wares,  but  it  draws  large  num- 
bers of  fakirs  (pronounced  fah-keers,  with  the  accent  upon  the  last 
syllable)  or  holy  men.  They  wear  full  beards  and  long  hair  and  no 
clothing  except  the  breech  cloth.  They  put  ashes  and  even  manure 
upon  their  heads,  and  their  hair  and  whiskers  are  matted  and  discol- 
ored.    These  men  are  supposed  to  have  raised  themselves  to  a  high 


HINDI'    TYPES. 


spiritual  state  by  asceticism  and  self-punishment.  They  undergo  all 
sorts  of  hardships,  such  as  hanging  over  a  fire,  holding  up  the  arm 
until  it  withers,  and  sitting  upon  a  bed  of  spikes.  We  saw  many 
fakirs  at  Benares  and  Allahabad  and  some  elsewhere  (for  they  are 
scattered  over  the  whole  country),  and  at  the  latter  place  one  accom- 
modated us  by  taking  his  seat  upon  the  spikes. 

At  the  recent  Mela  five  hundred  of  these  fakirs  marched  in  a  pro- 
cession  naked,  even  the  breech  cloth  having  been  abandoned  for  the 
occasion,  and  so  great  was  the  reverence  for  them  that  their  followers 
struggled  to  obtain  the  sand  made  sacred  by  their  tread,  a  number  of 
people  meeting  their  death  in  the  crowd.     These  fakirs  are  supposed 


o 


26S 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


to  have  reached  a  state  of  sinlessness,  but  one  of  them  seized  a  child 
along  the  line  of  march  and  dashed  out  its  brains  in  the  presence  of 
its  mother,  claiming  to  be  advised  that  the  gods  desired  a  human 
sacrifice.  He  was  arrested  by  the  British  officials  and  is  now  awaiting 
trial  on  the  charge  of  murder.  The  papers  recently  reported  another 
instance  in  which  a  fakir  was  the  cause  of  a  murder.  He  was  con- 
sulted by  a  woman  who  had  lost  several  children  and  was  anxious  to 
protect  her  prospective  child  from  a  like  fate.  The  fakir  told  her  that 
she  could  insure  her  child's  life  if  she  would  herself  bathe  in  human 
blood,  and  she  and  her  husband  enticed  a  seven-year-old  boy  into  their 
home  and  killed  him  to  se- 
cure the  blood  necessary  for 
the  bath.  The  fakirs  are  not 
only  a  danger  to  the  com- 
munity in  some  cases  and  a 
source  of  demoralization  at 
.•ill  times,  but  they  are  a 
heavy  drain  upon  the  pro- 
ducing wealth  of  the  coun- 
try. Adding  nothing  to  the 
material,  intellectual  or  mor- 
al development  of  the  coun- 
try, they  live  upon  the  fears 
and  credulity  of  the  people. 

The  Hindu  religion  claims. 
something  more  than  two 
hundred  millions  of  human 
beings  within  its  member- 
ship; it  teaches  the  trans- 
migration of  the  soul  or  re- 
incarnation as  it  is  generally 
called.  The  Hindu  mind 
takes  kindly  to  the  metaphysical,  and  the  Hindu  priests  have  evolved 
;m  intricate  system  of  philosophy  in  Support  of  their  religious  beliefs. 
Reincarnation  is  set  forth  as  a  theory  necessary  to  bring  God's  plans 
into  accord  with  man's  conception  of  justice.  If  a  man  is  born  blind 
or  horn  into  unfavorable  surroundings,  it  is  explained  on  the  theory 
thai  he  is  being  punished  for  sins  committed  during  a  former  exist- 
ence; if  he  is  born  into  a  favorable  environment  he  is  being  rewarded 
for  virtue  previously  developed. 

It  is  not  quite    certain  whether    the  Hindus    have  many  gods  or 


IIIXDU    FAKIR. 


HINDI'     INDIA 


269 


many  forms  of  one  god,  for  the  ancient  Vedas  speak  of  each  of  several 
gods  as  if  they  were  supreme.  The  most  popular  god  is  a  sort  of  trin- 
ity, Bramah,  the  creator;  Vischnu,  the  preserver,  and  Siva,  the 
destroyer,  being  united  in  one.  Sometimes  the  trinity  is  spoken  of  as 
representing  creation,  destruction  and  renovation,  in  which  Krishna 
appears  as  the  principal  god.  Out  of  this  system  have  sprung  a  mul- 
titude of  gods  until  I  lie  masses  bow  down  "to  sticks  and  stones/' 

The  most  pernicious  product  of  the  Hindu  religion  is  the  caste  sys- 
tem. Infant  marriage  is  terrible,  but  that  will  succumb  to  education; 
the  seclusion  of  the  women  is  benumbing,  but  it  will  give  way  before 
the  spread  of  European  and  American  influence,  and  with  it  will  go 
the  practical  servitude  of  widow.-,  as  the  practice  of  suttee  (the  burning 


MRS.    BESAXTS   COLLEGE. 


of  widows)  has  practically  gone.  But  the  caste  system,  resting  upon 
vanity,  pride  and  egotism,  is  more  difficult  to  eradicate.  Nowhere  in 
the  world  is  caste  so  inexorable  in  its  demands  or  so  degrading  in  it- 
influence.  The  line  between  the  human  being  and  the  beast  of  the 
field  is  scarcely  more  distinctly  drawn  than  the  line  between  the  vari- 
ous castes.  The  Brahmins  belong  to  the  priestly  class,  and  are  sup- 
posed to  have  sprung  from  the  mouth  of  Brahm,  the  great  creator; 
the  Kshatrias,  or  warrior  class,  are  supposed  to  have  sprung  from  the 
shoulders  of  Brahm;  the  Vaisyas,  or  merchant  class,  are  supposed  to 


•>~ 


TO 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


have  sprung  from  the  thighs  of  Brahni;  while  the  Sudras,  or  laborers, 

are  supposed  to  have  sprung  from  the  feet  of  Brahm.  There  are 
numerous  sub-divisions  of  these  castes,  and  besides  these  there  are  out- 
casts; although  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  room  below  the  Sud- 
ras for  any  other  class.  The  caste  system  not  only  affects  social  inter- 
course and  political  progress,  but  it  complicates  living.  A  high  caste 
Hindu  can  not  accept  food  or  drink  from  a  low  caste,  and  must  purify 
his  water  bottle  if  a  low  caste  touches  it. 

About  seventy  years  ago  a  reform  in  Hinduism  was  begun  under 
the  name  of  Brahmo  Somaj.  It  was  built  upon  monotheism,  or  the 
worship  of  one  god,  for  which  it  claimed  to  find  authority  in  the 
Hindu  sacred  books.  It  drew  to  itself  a  number  of  strong  men,  among 


A    GALA    DAY    IX    INDIA. 


them  Mr.  Tagore  and  Mr.  Sen,  the  latter  making  a  trip  to  England  to 
present  the  principles  of  the  new  faith  before  prominent  religious 
bodies  there. 

The  Arya  Somaj,  another  reform  sect,  sprung  up  later.  Both  of 
these  have  exerted  considerable  influence  upon  the  thought  of  India, 
far  beyond  their  numerical  strength.  So  far,  however,  Christianity 
has  made  greater  inroads  upon  Hinduism  than  any  of  the  reforma- 
tions that  have  been  attempted  from  within. 

At  Allahabad  we  found  two  Christian  colleges,  the  Allahabad  Chris- 
tian College  for  men  and  the  Wanamaker  School  for  girls.   Dr.  A.  H. 


n 


o 


o 

o 

H 


279 


THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 


Ewing  is  at  the  head  of  the  former  and  Miss  Foreman,  the  daughter 
of  an  early  missionary,  at  the  head  of  the  latter.  Both  of  these  schools 
have  been  built  with  American  money,  Mr.  Wanamaker  having  been 
the  most  liberal  patron.  They  are  excellently  located,  are  doing  a 
splendid  work  and  are  affiliated  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Fifty 
dollars  will  pay  for  the  food,  room,  clothes  and  tuition  of  one  boy, 
while  thirty  dollars  will  provide  for  one  girl,  and  interested  Americans 
have  already  established  several  scholarships,  but  money  is  badly 
needed  to  enlarge  the  facilities  of  both  these  schools. 

We  spent  the  Sabbath  at  Allahabad  and  visited  both  of  these  schools, 
and  our  appreciation  of  their  work  was  enhanced  by  our  observation 
at  Benares.  It  seemed  like  an  oasis  in  the  desert.  Surely  those  who 
have  helped  to  create  this  green  spot — may  it  ever  widen — will  find 
intense  satisfaction  in  the  good  that  these  schools  are  doing  and  will  do. 


HINDU   GROUP 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MOHAMMEDAN   INDIA. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  term,  Mohammedan  India,  could  only  be 
applied  to  those  frontier  districts  in  which  the  Mohammedans  have  a 
preponderating  influence,  but  the  Mohammedan  emperors  left  such 
conspicuous  monuments  of  their  reign  in  Lucknow,  Delhi  and  Agra 
that  it  does  not  violate  the  proprieties  to  thus  describe  this  section. 
The  Mohammedans  themselves  have  laid  virtual  claim  to  this  terri- 
tory by  the  establishment  of  their  chief  college  at  Aligahr,  nearly  equi- 
distant from  Agra  and  Delhi,  and  their  claim  is  still  further  strength- 
ened by  the  fact  that  while  they  have  not  a  majority,  they  have  a  very 
large  percentage  of  the  population  of  both  of  the  last  named  cities. 

In  approaching  this  section  of  India  from  the  east,  the  tourist  passes 
through  Cawnpore,  made  memorable  by  the  massacre  of  the  British 
residents  during  the  mutiny  of  1857.  The  recollection  of  the  mutiny 
is  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  British  officials,  and  numerous  monu- 
ments have  been  reared  to  the  bravery  of  the  besieged  garrisons. 

At  Calcutta  one  is  shown  a  black  piece  of  pavement  which  covers  a 
part  of  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta  (the  rest  of  the  hole  is  now  covered 
by  a  building)  where  in  1756  one  hundred  and  forty-six  human 
beings  were  forced  to  spend  the  night  and  from  which  only  twenty- 
three  escaped  alive.  The  hole  was  twenty-two  by  fourteen  feet  and 
only  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  in  height,  and  the  awful  sufferings  of 
those  who  perished  there  arc  commemorated  by  an  obelisk  which 
stands  near  by. 

But  the  cruelty  practiced  at  the  time  of  the  mutiny  far  more  stirred 
the  English  heart,  and  as  the  uprising  was  more  extensive,  several 
cities  contain  memorials.  Of  these  the  most' beautiful  is  at  Cawnpore, 
and  is  called  "The  Angel  of  the  Resurrection."  It  is  made  of  white 
marble  and  represents  an  angel  with  hands  crossed  and  each  holding  a 
palm.  It  stands  upon  an  elevated  mound  in  a  beautiful  park,  and  is 
enclosed  by  a  stone  screen.  It  was  the  gift  of  Lord  and  Lady  Canning 
and  bears  the  following  inscription :  "Sacred  to  the  perpetual  memory 
of  a  great  company  of  Christian  people,  chiefly  women  and  children, 
who  near  this  spot  were  cruelly  murdered  by  the  follower-  of  the  rebel 

273 


274 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


* 

1    - 

j    • 

■     i.   laiai     #>  iJfclMftiiMMfci i 
■■■■■^irYPWMw 

Nana  Dhundu  Pant,  of  Bithur,  and  cast,  the  dying  with  the  dead,  into 
the  well  below,  on  the  15th  day  of  July,  1857." 

There  is  also  at  Cawnpore,  in  another  park,  a  stately  memorial 
church,  the  inner  walls  of  which  are  lined  with  tablets  containing  the 
names  of  British  soldiers  who  lost  their  lives  during  the  mutiny. 

Lucknow  is  not  far  from  Cawnpore,  and  here,  too,  the  mutiny  has 
left  its  scars  and  monuments.  The  Lucknow  residency,  now  an  ivy 
mantled  ruin,  was  the  scene  of  the  great  siege  that  lasted  from  the 
first  of  July,  1857,  to  the  seventeenth  of  November.  At  the  begin- 
ning there  were  within  the  walls  nine  hundred  British  troops  and 
officers,  one  hundred  and  fifty  volunteers,  seven  hundred  native  troops, 
six  hundred  women  and  chil- 
dren and  seven  hundred  non- 
combatant  natives:  total, 
about  three  thousand.  When 
relief  came  but  one  thousand 
remained.  The  night  before 
the  arrival  of  Sir  Colin 
Campbell  with  reinforce- 
ments, one  of  the  besieged, 
a  Scotch  girl,  dreamed  of  the 
coming  of  relief,  and  her 
dream  gave  rise  to  the  song 
so  familiar  a  generation  ago, 
"The  Campbells  Are  Com- 
ing."* 

There  are  in  Lucknow  a 
number  of  tombs,  mosques 
and  buildings  that  gave  us 
our  first  glimpse  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Mogul  emper- 
or— great  domes,  gigantic 
gateways  and  graceful  minaret-,  stately  columns  and  vaulted  galleries. 
The  most  interesting  of  the  buildings,  Imambarah,  built  by  Asaf-ud- 
daulah,  contains  a  great  hall  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long 
and  about  fifty  feet  in  breadth  and  height.  On  one  side  of  the  court 
;-  a  private  mosque  and  on  the -other  a  group  of  apartments  built 
around  a  well  as  a  protection  against  the  summer's  heat.  -From  the 
top  of  the  Imambarah  one  obtains  an  excellent  view  of  Lucknow  and 
its  surroundings. 

At  Aligarh  I  found  a  great  educational  institution  which  must 
be  taken  into  consideration  in  estimating  the  future  of  Mohammedan- 

*I  have  heard  that  the  song  was  of  earlier  origin. 


ANGEL   or  THE  RESURRECTION. 


MOHAMMEDAN    [NDIA 


•r,:, 


ism  in  India.  It  was  founded  in  1877,  largely  through  the  influence 
and  liberality  of  Sir  Syed  Ahmed,  who  until  his  death  in  1898  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  its  development.  He  was  a  large-minded  man  and 
full  of  zeal  for  the  enlightenmenl  of  his  co-religionists.  Ho  recog- 
nized the  low  intellectual  standard  of  the  Mohammedan  Indians,  and 
the  controlling  purpose  of  his  life  was  to  assist  in  their  improvement. 
At   first,  his  educational  enterprise  met  with  a  cold  reception  at  the 

hands  of  the  leaders 
of  his  church.  Em- 
issaries were  even 
senl  from  Mecca  to 
assassinate  him,  but, 
nothing  daunted,  he 
pursued  his  plans 
until  t  li  e  church 
authorities  r  e  cog- 
nized the  impor- 
tance of  the  school. 
As  the  Mohamme- 
dans arc  numeric- 
ally weaker  than  the 
Hindus  and  unable 
to  cope  with  them 
in  intellectual  con- 
tests. Sir  Syed  op- 
posed the  national 
congress  proposition 
which  the  Hindus 
have  long  urged  and 
the  Aligarh  school 
became  conspicuous  for  its  pro-British  leanings  on  this  question.  This 
may  account  in  part  for  the  interest  taken  in  it  by  the  colonial  govern- 
ment. (The  Central  Hindu  College  at  Benares  refuses  government  aid 
and  is,  therefore,  more  independent.)  But  since  the  death  of  Sir  Syed 
the  congress  idea  is  growing  among  the  students  of  Aligarh. 

Aligarh  College  now  has  an  enrollment  of  seven  hundred  and  four, 
more  than  a  hundred  of  whom  are  law  students.  It  has  an  English 
Cambridge  graduate  for  president  and  several  English  professors.  I 
might  add  that  England,  like  America,  has  sent  many  teachers  to 
India,  and  that  they  are  engaged  in  work,  the  importance  of  which 
can  not  be  overestimated.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  those  con- 
nected with  St.  John's  College  at  Agra  as  well  as  those  at  Aligarh. 


THE    HON.    MY    JUSTICE   BADKUDDIN    TYABJI 

AN    INDIAN     JUDGE BOMBAY. 


O 

y, 

M 
o 

hi 


t-H 


MOHAMMEDAN    INDIA 


277 


Delhi  is  one  of  India's  most  ancient  cities.  When  the  Aryans  came 
down  from  the  northwest  and  conquered  the  aboriginal  tribes,  they 
founded  a  city  which  they  called  [ndrapat,  jusl  south  of  the  present 
site  of  Delhi.  How  old  it  is  no  one  knows,  for  the  names  of  its  foun- 
ders   have    been    forgotten,    its    records,  if  it  had  any,    have    been 


PEARL    MOSQ1   E    AT    DELHI 

destroyed,  and  its  streets  are  winding  footpaths  which  one  follows 
with  difficulty.  Every  wave  of  invasion  that  has  swept  down  from 
the  north  or  west  has  passed  over  Tndrapat.  and  its  stones  would  tell 
a  thrilling  story  if  they  could  but  speak.    The  city  has  been  rebuilt 


278 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


again  and  again,  the  last  time  about  three  hundred  years  ago,  but  it 
has  little  to  exhibit  now  but  its  antiquity.  There  is  a  massive  city 
wall  with  huge  gates,  there  are  tumble-down  buildings  occupied  by 

a  few  people  and 
some  goats,  and  there 
is  a  stone  library 
building  erected  hun- 
dreds of  years  before 
Carnegie  was  born, 
but  the  glory  of  In- 
drapat  has  departed. 
Not  far  from  Indra- 
pat  is  the  splendid 
tomb  of  Humayun 
and  another  of  the 
Asoka  pillars. 

Eleven  miles  south 
of  the  present  Delhi 
is  what  is  called  old 
Delhi  (Delhi  seems 
to  have  had  a  mov- 
able site)  immortal- 
ized by  ■  the  famous 
Kutab  Minar,  or 
tower,  erected  near 
the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century  by 
one  of  the  earliest  Mohammedan  eonquerors  after  the  capture  of 
Delhi.  The  tower — a  tower  of  victory — is  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  feet  in  height,  forty-seven  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base  and  nine 
at  the  top.  It  has  been  described  as  one  of  the  architectural  wonders 
of  the  world,  and  it  certainly  gives  one  a  profound  respect  for  the 
mind  that  planned  it.  There  are  so  many  mausoleums  and  mosques 
scattered  over  the  plains  around  Delhi  that  space  forbids  particular 
description. 

Within  a  century  after  the  death  of  Mohammed  the  Moslems  made 
an  nt luck  upon  India,  but  it  was  five  hundred  years  later  before  they 
became  masters  of  the  great  peninsula.  Then  for  five  hundred  more 
it  was  (lie  scene  of  conflict  between  rival  Moslems  until  Timur  (Tam- 
erlan,  the  Tartar)  plundered  it  and  drenched  it  with  blood.  In  all 
these  wars  Delhi  was  the  strategic  point,  the  natural  capital  of  the 
north.     After  Timur,  came  his  descendant  of  the  sixth  generation, 


GOKALE I'KIIM  I  NEXT  IXDIAN   REFORMER. 


o 
o 

F 


o 
5; 


'/ 


HIE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Babar,  who  consolidated  the  Indian  empire  by  bravery,  tact  and  wis- 
dom. He  is  the  first  of  the  great  Mogul  rulers,  but  he  was  so  occupied 
with  the  extension  of  his  sovereignty  that  he  was  compelled  to  leave 
the  development  of  the  empire  to  his  descendants.  His  grandson, 
Akbar,  built  three  great  forts,  one  at  Allahabad,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made  in  another  article,  another  at  Agra,  which  he  made  his 
capital,  and  the  third  at  Atok,  still  farther  north.  He  also  built  Fate- 


MOHA21MEDANS    AT    J'RAYEK. 


pur  Sikri  about  twenty  miles  from  Agra.  This  was  to  be  his  home, 
and  lure  on  a  sandstone  ridge  overlooking  the  plain  he  reared  a  group 
of  buildings  which  even  now,  though  deserted  for  two  centuries, 
attracts  tourists  from  all  over  the  world.  While  the  material  employed 
is  red  sandstone,  the  buildings  are  models  of  beauty  as  well  as  strength, 
and  the  minute  and  elaborate  carvings  are  masterpieces  in  their  line. 


MOII.\.M.Mi;i).\\    INDIA 


281 


The  fort  built  by  Akbar  at  Agra,  while  not  proof  against  modern 
missiles,  was  impregnable  in  its  day  and  still  bears  testimony  to  the 
constructive  genius  of  the  second  of  the  Moguls. 

Six  miles  from  Agra  at  Sikandra  stands  the  magnificent  tomb 
which  Akbar  built  and  where  he  rests.  It  is  constructed  of  red  sand- 
stone and  is  part  Buddhist  and  part  Saracenic  in  design.  Tin-  base  is 
three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  square  and  it-  four  retreating  galleries 
terminate  in  a  roofless  court  of  white  marble  in  which  stands  a  marble 
casket  surrounded  by  screens  of  marble  most  exquisitely  carved.  Spe- 
cial interest  is  felt  in  the  tomb  because  one  of  its  ornaments  was  the 
famous  Kohinoor  diamond,  the  largest  in  the  world.  It  had  conic 
down  to  Akbar  from  his  grandfather,  who  in  turn  secured  it  from 
the  Rajputs.  The  diamond  was  carried  away  by  Persian  conquerors, 
and  later  was  returned  to  India  only  to  be  transferred  to  Queen  Victoria. 

But  if  Akbar  surpassed  his  grandfather  as  a  builder,  he  was  in  turn 
surpassed  by  his  grandson,  Shah 
Jehan.  This  emperor,  the  last  of  the 
three  great  Moguls,  who  began  his 
career  by  murdering  two  brothers 
and  two  cousins  whose  rivalry  he 
feared,  and  who  closed  his  career  a 
prisoner  of  his  rebellious  son,  has 
linked  his  name  with  some  of  the 
most  beautiful  structures  ever  con- 
ceived by  the  mind  of  man.  At 
Agra  within  the  walls  of  hi.-  grand- 
father's fort,  he  built  the  Pearl 
Mosque  which  has  been  described  as 
''the  purest,  loveliest  house  of  prayer 
in  existence."  It  is  constructed  of 
milk  white  marble  and  combines 
strength,  simplicity  and  grace.  He 
also  built  the  Gem  Mosque  at  Delhi. 

The  fort  at  Delhi  wis  built  by 
Shah  Jehan,  and  if  its  resemblance  to 
the  fort  at  Agra  deprives  him  of  cred- 
it for  originality,  that  argument  can 
not  be  raised  against  the  palace 
within,  for  this  is  unrivaled  among 
palaces.  The  marble  baths,  the  jeweled  bed  chambers,  the  pillared 
halls,  the  graceful  porticoes — ;ill  these  abound  in  rich  profusion.  But 
it  whs  upon  the  great  hall  of  Private  Audience  that  he  lavished  taste 


KLAXJII5AX   CANCILI,   SUPT. 
INSTR1  CTION. 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

and  wealth.  The  floor  is  of  polished  marble,  the  pillar.-  and 
the  arched  ceiling  of  polished  marble  inlaid  with  precious  stones, 
so  set  as  to  form  figures  and  flowers.  Each  square  inch  of  it  speaks 
of  patient  toil  and  skill,  and  the  whole  blends  harmoniously.  For 
this  magnificent  audience  room  he  designed  a  throne  fit  for  the 
chamber  in  which  it  stood.  "It  was  called  the  peacock  throne  because 
it  was  guarded  by  two  peacocks  with  expanded  tails  ornamented  with 
jewels  that  reproduced  the  natural  colors  of  the  bird.  The  throne 
itself  was  made  of  gold,  inlaid  with  diamonds,  rubies  ami  emeralds. 
Over  it  was  a  canopy  of  gold  festooned  with  pearls  supported  by 
twelve  pillars,  all  emblazoned  with  gems.  On  either  side-  stood  the 
Oriental  emblem  of  royalty,  an  umbrella,  each  handle  eight  feet 
high  and  of  solid  gold,  studded  with  diamonds,  the  covers  being  of 
crimson  velvet  crusted  and  fringed  with  magnificent  pearls."  Thus  it 
was  described.  It  was  too  tempting  a  prize  for  greedy  conquerors  to 
Leave  undisturbed,  and  was  carried  off  some  centuries  ago  by  a  Per- 
sian. Nadir  Shah.  Shah  Jehan,  after  contemplating  this  audience 
chamber  and  throne,  had  inscribed  upon  the  wall  in  Persian  charac- 
ter- a  verse  which  has  been  freely  translated  to  read: 

"If    on    earth    be    an    Eden    of    bliss, 
It  is  this,  it  is  this,  it  is  this." 

And  yet,  in  view  of  his  sad  fate  there  seems  as  much  irony  in  the 
line-  as  there  was  in  the  delicately  poised  scales  of  justice  which  he 
bad  inlaid  on  one  of  the  walls  of  his  palace  after  he  had  put  his 
] datives  out   of  the  way. 

But  of  all  the  works  of  art  that  can  be  traced  to  his  genius,  nothing 
compares  with  the  tomb,  the  Taj  Mahal,  which  he  reared  in  honor 
of  the  best-loved  of  his  wives.  Xumtaj  Mahal,  "the  chosen  of  the  pal- 
ace." This  building,  unique  among  buildings  and  alone  in  its  class, 
has  been  described  so  often  that  I  know  not  how  to  speak  of  it  without 
employing  language  already  hackneyed.  When  I  was  a  student  at 
college  I  heard  a  lecturer  describe  this  wonderful  tomb,  and  it  was 
one  of  the  objective  points  in  our  visit  to  India.  Since  I  first  heard 
of  it  I  had  read  so  much  of  it  and  had  received  such  glowing  accounts 
from  those  who  had  seen  it,  that  I  feared  lest  the  expectations  aroused 
might  be  disappointed.  We  reached  Agra  toward  midnight,  and,  as 
the  moon  was  waning,  drove  at  once  to  the  Taj  that  we  might  see  it 
under  the  mosl  favorable  conditions,  for  in  the  opinion  of  many  it  is 
mosl  beautiful  by  moonlight.  There  is  something  fascinating  in  the 
view  which  it  thus  presents,  and  we  feasted  our  eyes  upon  it.  Shrouded 
in    tin-  mellow    light,   (be  veins  of  tin-  marble  and  the  stains  of  more 


284  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

than  two  and  a  half  centuries  are  invisible,  and  it  stands  forth  like 
an  apparition.  We  visited  it  again  in  the  daytime,  and  yet  again,  and 
found  that  the  sunlight  increased  rather  than  diminished  its  grandeur. 
1  am  bringing  an  alabaster  miniature  home  with  me,  but  I  am  con- 
scious that  the  Taj  must  be  seen  full  size  and  silhouetted  against  the 
sky  to  be  appreciated. 

Imagine  a  garden  with  flowers  and  lawn,  walks  and  marble  water 
basins  and  fountains ;  in  this  garden  build  a  platform  of  white  marble 
eighteen  feet  high  and  three  hundred  feet  square,  with  an  ornamented 
minaret  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  feet  high  at  each  corner;  in  the 
center  of  this  platform  rear  a  building  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
square  and  a  hundred  feet  high,  with  its  corners  beveled  off  and,  like 
the  sides,  recessed  into  bays;  surmount  it  with  a  large  central  dome 
and  four  smaller  ones;  cover  it  inside  and  out  with  inlaid  work  of 
many  colored  marbles  and  carvings  of  amazing  delicacy;  beneath  the 
central  dome  place  two  marble  cenotaphs,  inlaid  with  precious  stone.-. 
the  tombs  of  Shah  Jehan  and  his  wife,  and  enclose  them  in  exquisitely 
carved  marble  screens — imagine  all  this,  if  you  can,  and  then  your 
conception  of  this  world-famed  structure  will  fall  far  below  the  Taj 
Mahal  itself.  It  is,  indeed,  "a  dream  in  marble."  And  yet,  when  one 
looks  upon  it  and  then  surveys  the  poverty  and  ignorance  of  the 
women  who  live  within  its  shadow,  he  is  tempted  to  ask  whether  the 
builder  of  the  Taj  might  not  have  honored  his  wife  more  had  the  six 
million  dollars  invested  in  this  tomb  been  expended  on  the  elevation 
of  womanhood.  The  contrast  between  this  artistic  pile  and  the  miser- 
able tenements  of  the  people  about  it  robs  the  structure  of  half  its 
charms. 


(TIAPTKK  XXV 


WESTERN  INDIA. 

There  is  so  much  of  interest  in  India  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  con- 
dense all  that  I  desire  to  say  into  the  space  which  it  seems  proper  to 
devote  to  this  country.  In  speaking  of  the  various  cities,  I  have  been 
compelled  to  omit  reference  to  the  numerous  industries  for  which 
India  is  famed.  Long  before  the  European  set  foot  upon  the  soil 
the  artisans  had  won  renown  in  weaving,  in  carving  and  in  brass.  It 
was.  in  fact,  the  very  wealth  of  Indus  that  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
western  world  and  turned  the  prows  of  merchant  vessels  toward  the 
Orient.  "While*  India  can  complain  that  some  of  her  arts  have  been 
lost  since  she  has  been  under  the  tutelage  of  foreigners,  enough  re- 
mains to  make  every  tourist  a  collector,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  of 
attractive  souvenirs. 

Benares  is  the  center  of  the  plain  brass  manufacture,  and  her  bazaars 
are  full  of  vases,  trays,  candlesticks,  bowls,  etc.  Lucknow  is  noted  for 
her  silversmiths,  but  her  products  do  not  command  so  high  a  price 
as  those  of  southern  India.  Delhi  leads  in  ivory  and  wood  carving, 
and  one  can  find  here  the  best  specimens  of  this  kind  of  work.  Sev- 
eral of  the  addresses  presented  to  the  Prince  of  "Wales  upon  his  recent 
visit  were  encased  in  ivory  caskets  richly  carved  and  studded  with 
gems.  Painting  on  ivory  is  also  carried  to  a  high  state  of  perfection 
here,  and  sandalwood  boxes  can  be  found  in  all  the  store-. 

At  Agra  one  finds  rugs  woven  in  Turkish  and  Persian,  as  well  as  in 
original,  designs.  Agra  is  also  renowned  for  its  inlaid  work,  many 
of  the  designs  of  the  Taj  being  copied.  The  Taj  itself  is  reproduced 
in  miniatures  at  price-  ranging  from  one  dollar  up  into  the  hundred.-. 

In  all  the  cities  of  upper  India,  Kashmir  shawls  may  be  secured. 
Kashmir  itself  being  far  north  of  the  line  of  travel.  These  shawls 
are  of  goat's  hair,  and  some  of  them  are  so  delicate  that  though  two 
yards  square,  they  can  be  drawn  through  a  finger  ring. 

At  Jaipore  the  chief  industries  which  attract  the  attention  of  foreign- 
ers are  enameling  on  gold  and  brass,  the  latter  being  the  best  known. 

285 


286  THE    OLD    WORLD    AM)    ITS    WAYS 

I'Yu  who  visit  the  bazaar.-  tan  resist  the  temptation  to  cany  away  some 
samples  of  this  ware,  so  graceful  are  the  vessels  and  so  skillful  is  the 
workmanship. 

Jaipore,  the  firsl  of  the  western  cities,  and  the  only  one  of  the  native 
states  that  we  visited,  is  deserving  of  some  notice,  partly  because  it  gives 
evidence  of  considerable  advancement  and  partly  because  the  govern- 
ment is  administered  entirely  by  native  officials.  The  Maharaja  is  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  native  princes  and  a  descendant  of  the 
famous  Rajput  line  of  kings.  He  lives  in  oriental  style,  has  a  number  of 
wives,  and  elephants,  camels  and  horses  galore.  He  is  an  orthodox 
Hindu  of  the  strictest  type  and  drinks  no  water  but  the  water  of  the 
Ganges.  When  he  went  to  England  to  attend  the  coronation,  he  char- 
tered a  ship,  took  his  retinue  with  him  and  carried  Ganges  water 
enough  to  last  until  his  return.  He  is  very  loyal  to  the  British  gov- 
ernment and  in  return  he  is  permitted  to  exercise  over  his  subjects 
a  power  as  absolute  as  the  czar  ever  claimed.  There  is  an  English 
resident  at  his  capital,  but  his  council  is  composed  of  Indians,  his 
judges  are  Indians,  his  collectors  are  Indians,  his  school  teachers 
are  Indians,  and  he  has  an  Indian  army.  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  one  of  the  council  and  the  head  of  the  school  system 
of  the  state,  and  found  them  men  of  fine  appearance -and  high  culture. 
The  illiteracy  in  his  state  compares  favorably  with  that  in  the  states 
under  British  administration,  and  the  graduates  from  the  Maharaja's 
college  compete  successfully  in  the  examinations  with  the  graduates 
from  other  colleges.  They  have  at  Jaipore  an  art  school  in  which  all 
kinds  of  manual  training  are  taught,  and  the  sale-room  of  this  school 
gives  accurate  information  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  natives  for  industrial 
development.  We  found  here  the  only  native  pottery  of  merit  that  we 
noticed  in  the  country. 

The  city  of  Jaipore  was  laid  out  in  1728  and  is  one  of  the  most 
attractive  cities  in  India.  The  main  streets  are  a  hundred  and  ten  feet 
wide,  the  buildings  are  Oriental  in  style,  most  of  them  two  stories  in 
heighl — some  three — and  all  are  painted  the  same  shade  of  pink. 
with  white  trimmings  and  green  shutters.  The  entire  city  is  supplied 
with  water  and  the  streets  are  lighted  by  gas.  All  in  all,  Jaipore  makes 
a  favorable  impression  upon  the  visitor. 

Some  six  miles  away  is  the  ancient  city  of  Amber,  the  capital  of  the 
state  until  Jaipore  was  established.  It  is  reached  by  a  ride  on  elephant 
back,  the  only  ride  of  this  kind  that  we  have  yet  had.  There  is  a  beauti- 
ful palace  at  Amber  which  gives  some  idea  "of  the  luxury  in  which  the 
Indian   rulers  lived.    We  returned  from  this  trip  late  in  the  evening 


53 
- 

H 


»X 


C 

w 


V, 


288  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

when  the  peacocks  were  going  to  roost,  and  nearly  every  tree  contained 
one  or  more  of  these  gaudy-plumaged  fowls.  Th&se  were  apparently 
wild,  and  their  numbers  and  beauty  recalled  the  fact  that  the  peacock 
is  India's  royal  bird ;  and  it  is  not  an  inappropriate  symbol  of  the  pomp 
and  magnificence  of  the  Oriental  kings.  I  might  digress  here  to  say 
that  (he  respect  for  life  taught  in  the  Hindu  scriptures  has  filled  India 
to  excess  with  useless  birds  and  animals.  The  crows  and  kites  are  a 
nuisance.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  vendor  of  cakes  and  sweet- 
meats bearing  his  basket  on  his  head  and  waving  a  stick  above  it  to 
scare  off  the  birds.  Sometimes  an  attendant  follows  the  vendor  and 
protects  him  from  the  birds,  but  in  spite  of  all  precautions  they  get 
their  toll.  The  crows  often  come  to  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  hotels 
and  inquire  whether  you  have  any  food  to  spare,  and  sparrows  and 
other  small  birds  occasionally  glean  crumbs  from  the  table.  At  Jaipore 
we  saw  myriads  of  pigeons  being  fed  in  the  streets,  and  monkeys — they 
are  everywhere.  The  jungles  of  the  tropical  countries  are  not  more 
thronged  with  them  than  the  road  sides  of  some  parts  of  India.  About 
half  way  between  Jaipore  and  Bombay  they  were  especially  numerous, 
and  as  we  rode  along  on  the  train  we  saw  them  singly,  in  groups  and  in 
mass  meetings.  Here,  too,  we  saw  herds  of  antelope,  scarcely  frightened 
by  the  train.  Attention  has  frequently  been  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
Hindu's  aversion  to  meat  has  a  bearing  upon  the  famine  question,  mil- 
lions of  cattle  dying  of  starvation  which,  if  killed  earlier,  might  have 
saved  thousands  of  human  beings  from  starving. 

A  night's  ride  from  Jaipore  brought  us  to  Abu  Road,  from  which  by 
pony  carts,  called  tongas,  we  ascended  to  Mt.  Abu,  sixteen  miles  away. 
The  journey  is  made  over  a  wTell  kept  mountain  road  wdiieh  climbs  to  a 
height  of  about  five  thousand  feet.  While  this  mountain  resort  drawrs 
many  Europeans  because  of  its  altitude,  two  famous  Jain  temples  are 
the  lodestone  that  attracts  tourists.  These  temples  were  built  by  mer- 
chanl  princes  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  and  the  fact  that 
one  of  them  cost  more  than  five  millions  of  dollars,  shows  that  trade 
had  readied  a  commanding  position  in  those  days.  One  of  the  temples 
wa-  1  mi i]|  by  two  brothers  and  the  guide  tells  of  a  tradition  that  these 
brothers,  tiring  of  their  money,  decided  to  bury  it,  but  on  digging  in 
the  earth  they  found  more,  and  considering  it  a  gift  from  the  gods,  built 
i his  temple.  The  buildings  are  not  large,  and  seen  from  the  outside  are 
disappointing,  but  once  within  one  marvels  at  the  richness  of  the  carv- 
ing. The  pillars  and  vaulted  ceilings  are  of  the  purest  white  marble, 
brought  from  no  one  knows  where,  and  every  inch  of  the  surface  is  cov- 
ered with  figures  of  gods,  human  beings,  animals,  fowls  and  flowers. 


WESTERN     INDIA  289 

The  artists  utilized  the  things  with  which  the  people  were  mosl  familiar. 
Here  a  frieze  of  elephant  heads,  the  trunks  joined,  there  a  frieze  of 
geese,  another  of  tigers  or  monkeys.  In  one  dome  maidens  danced;  in 
another  warriors  fought;  in  a  third  flowers  bloomed.  The  variety  is 
endless  and  the  workmanship  perfect.  While  the  panels  and  friezes  and 
ceilings  differ  so  much  from  each  other,  the  arrangemenl  is  such  that 
they  do  not  seem  incongruous,  but  form  a  harmonious  whole.  The 
Mohammedan  conquerors  mutilated  some  of  the  figures  because  of  their 
hatred  of  idolatry,  and  when,  under  Lord  Curzon's  administration,  the 
work  of  restoration  was  begun,  it  \\;is  impossible  to  find  marble  like  the 
original. 

Around  these  temples  are  numerous  shrines,  each  containing  a  seated 
figure  very  much  resembling  Buddha.  The  Jains  are  a  sect  of  the 
Hindus,  and  their  temples  are  renowned  for  their  beauty.  This  tem- 
ple is  visited  by  a  large  number  of  pilgrims  every  year,  some  of  whom 
wrere  chanting  their  prayers  while  we  w7ere  there. 

Another  night's  ride  and  we  were  in  Bombay,  and  what  a  luxury  to 
find  a  hotel  constructed  upon  the  American  plan.  The  Taj  Mahal  is 
the  finest  hotel  in  the  Orient  and  would  be  a  credit  to  any  city  in  our 
country.  It  was  built  by  Mr.  Tata,  a  rich  Parsee,  wdio  planned  it  more 
from  public  than  from  private  considerations. 

We  found  the  plague  increasing  in  virulence,  three  hundred  having 
died  in  the  city  the  day  before  wre  arrived.  Bombay  has  suffered  terribly 
from  this  scourge,  twenty-four  per  cent  having  perished  from  it  in  the 
last  few  days.  Two  years  ago  the  American  consul,  Hon.  William  T.Fee, 
lost  his  daughter  and  came  near  losing  his  wife  by  this  dread  disease, 
and  two  of  the  European  consuls  have  recently  had  to  leave  their  homes 
because  of  deaths  among  their  native  servants.  With  so  many  dying  in 
a  single  city  (and  ten  thousand  a  week  in  the  entire  country),  India 
would  seem  an  unsafe  place  to  visit,  and  yet  one  wTould  not  know  except 
for  the  newspapers  that  an  epidemic  was  raging,  so  little  does  it  affect 
business  or  social  life.  There  is  now  in  use  a  system  of  inoculation  which 
promises  to  materially  lassen  the  mortality  from  this  disease.  A  serum 
is  prepared  in  which  the  venom  of  serpents  is  the  chief  ingredient,  and 
this  hypodermically  administered  has  been  found  almost  a  sure  prevent- 
ive. While  the  physicians  are  employing  this  remedy,  the  rat-catchers 
are  also  busy,  and  about  a  thousand  rodents  are  captured  per  day.  it 
having  been  demonstrated  that  the  rat  not  only  spreads  the  disease,  but 
carries  a  flea  that  imparts  it  by  its  bite. 

Bombav  is  the  Manchester  of  India,  and  the  smokestacks  of  its  many 


290 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


cotton  factories  give  to  the  city  a  very  business  like  appearance.   These 
mills  are  largely  owned  by  Indians  and  operated  by  Indian  capital. 

On  an  island  near  Bombay 
is  one  of  the  most  frequented 
of  the  rock-hewn  temples, 
called  the  Elephanta  Caves. 
This  temple  is  chiseled  out  of 
the  solid  rock,  great  pillars 
being  left  to  support  the  roof. 
It  is  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  square  by  seven- 
teen in  height  and  contains 
a  number  of  figures  of  heroic 
size.  These  figures  are  carved 
from  the  walls  and  represent 
various  gods  and  demons. 
The  Portuguese  Christians, 
several  centuries  ago,  showed 
their  contempt  for  these  gods 
of  stone  by  firing  their  can- 
non into  the  temple.  While 
some  of  the  pillars  were  bat- 
tered down  and  some  of  the 
carvings  mutilated,  enough 
now  remains  to  show  the  im- 
pressiveness  of  this  ancient 
place  of  worship. 

No  one  can  visit  Bombay 
without  becoming  interested 
in  a  religious  sect,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  are  known  as  an  American  maid  in  parsee  costume. 
Parsees.     They    are    few    in 

number,  probably  not  exceeding  a  hundred  thousand  in  the  world,  more 
than  half  of  whom  live  in  or  near  Bombay.  Theirs  is  the  religion  of 
Zoroaster,  and  they  contest  with  the  Hebrews  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
believers  in  one  God.  Their  sacred  books,  the  Zend-Avesta,  are  very 
ancient,  and  the  origin  of  their  religion  is  placed  anywhere  from  seven 
hundred  b.  c.  to  three  thousand  b.  c.  They  not  only  believe  in  one 
God,  but  they  believe  in  immortality  and  claim  to  have  impressed  their 
ideas  upon  the  Israelites  when  the  latter  were  in  bondage  in  Babylon. 
The  Parsees  see  in  the  world,  as  well  as  in  the  human  being,  a  continu- 


WESTERN    INDIA 


291 


ing  conflict  between  right  and  wrong,  and  they  regulate  their  conduct 
by  a  high  ethical  system.  When  the  Moslems  swept  over  Persia  and 
made  it  one  of  the  stars  in  Islam's  crown,  a  band  of  Parsees  preferred 


MAHARAJA JAIPORE. 


migration  to  conversion,  and,  like  our  pilgrim  fathers,  sought  a  home  in 
a  new  country.  In  Bombay  they  have  preserved  their  identity  for  some 
nine  centuries  and  have  made  themselves  a  potent  influence  in  every 


292 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


department  of  the  city's  activity.  They  have  their  marriage  ceremony, 
their  tire  temples  and  their  funeral  rites.  They  have  sometimes  been 
called  fire  worshipers  and  sun  worshipers,  but  they  simply  regard  fire 
as  the  purest  thing  known  and  therefore  accept  it  as  a  symbol  of  the  in- 
visible god.  Fire  is  kept  burning  in  their  temples,  and  when  a  new 
temple  is  to  be  dedicated,  fire  is  collected  from  the  homes  of  persons 
engaged  in  the  principal  industries  and  occupations,  and  this  mingled 
fire  is  used  to  kindle  another  fire  and 
tins  new  tire  another  until  the  ninth 
fire  is  lighted,  and  this  becomes  the  altar 
fire.  Each  lire  is  kindled  without  com- 
ing in  contact  with  the  former  one. 

The  Parsees  have  a  peculiar  form  of 
burial,  which  has  come  down  from  pre- 
historic times.  On  Malabar  Hill  in  the 
suburbs  of  Bombay,  overlooking  the 
sea,  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  garden, 
arc  their  Towers  of  Silence.  These  are 
large  circular  buildings  twenty-five  or 
thirty  feet  high  and  without  a  roof. 
Within  the  wall  is  a  circular  platform 
sloping  downward  to  a  well  in  the  cen- 
ter. 'When  a  Parsee  dies  he  is  prepared 
for  burial  and  borne  to  this  garden. 
After  the  last  rites  have  been  performed 
and  the  relatives  and  friends  have  taken 
their  farewell,  the  body  is  carried  within 
the  tower  by  men  appointed  for  the 
purpose  and  placed  naked  upon  this 
platform.  As  soon  as  the  corpse  bear- 
ers depart,  the  waiting  vultures  (of 
which  several  hundred  make  their 
home  in  the  garden)  swoop  down  upon 
ii  and  do  not  rise  until  the  bones  are 
bare.  The  skeletons,  sun-bleached,  are 
washed  by  the  rains  into  the  pit  in  the 
center,  where  rich  and  poor,  conspic- 
uous and  obscure,  mingle  their  dust  to-  MnU.M,fIfIUW  T  41W    ^mpav 

.      °  MOHAMMEDAN    LADY,    BOMBA\ . 

getner.     Lvery  sanitary  precaution  is 

taken  and  a  fixed  rate  of  five  rupees  is  charged  to  all  alike,  the  money 


WESTERN    INDIA 


293 


being  advanced  from  a  burial  fund  whore  the  family  can  not  afford  to 
bear  the  expense. 

The  Parsees  of  Pombay,  though  they  wear  a  dress  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, arc  of  all  the  Indians  most  like  the  Europeans  and  Americans. 
We  were  in  one  Parsee  home,  and  the  furniture,  the  pictures  and  the 
Library  were  such  as  would  be  found  in  the  average  home  in  our  coun- 
try. Statistics  show  that  the  percentage  of  education  among  the  Par- 
sees  is  very  much  higher  than  among  any  other  class  of  inhabitants, 
and  the  women  share  the  educational  advantages  with  the  men. 

The  well-to-do  Parsees  have  been  conspicuous  in  philanthropy,  en- 


ELEPHANT    PARADE. 

dowing  colleges,  hospitals  and  other  charities.  "While  they  are  counted 
among  the  staunchest  friends  of  British  rule,  they  are  also  among  the 
most  intelligent  critics  of  the  government's  faults.  Sir  Pherosha  M. 
Mehta,  the  leading  Parsee  orator,  is  prominent  in  the  national  congress 
movement.  At  a  reception  given  at  the  hotel,  and  on  other  occasion-. 
we  had  an  opportunity  to  meet  a  number  of  the  Parsees,  men  and 
women,  priests  and  laymen,  and  found  them  abreast  with  the  times 
and  alive  to  the  problems  with  which  the  world  is  wrestling  to-day. 

I  cannot  close  this  article  without  mentioning  the  increasing  pres- 
ence of  American  influence  in  Bombay.  An  American   minister.  Dr. 


294 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Mell,  is  pastor  of  the  principal  Methodist  church,  and  the  American 
Congregationalists  have  a  largely  attended  school  for  boys  and  girls 
in  the  city.  Many  of  the  students  were  taken  from  famine-stricken 
homes  and  are  being  educated  with  American  money.  There  is  also 
here  a  school  for  the  blind  under  American  management,  where  the 
students  are  not  only  taught  to  read  and  write,  but  trained  in  the 
industries  for  which  thev  are  fitted. 

I  do  not  apologize  for  mentioning  from  time  to  time  the  institutions 
which  altruistic  Americans  have  scattered  over  the  Orient.  If  we  can 
not  boast  that  the  sun  never  sets  on  American  territory,  we  can  find 
satisfaction  in  the  fact  that  the  sun  never  sets  on  American  philan- 
thropy ;  if  the  boom  of  our  cannon  does  not  follow  the  Orb  of  Day  in  his 
daily  round,  the  grateful  thanks  of  those  who  have  been  the  beneficiaries 
of  American  generosity  form  a  chorus  that  encircles  the  globe. 


ASSEMBLING    FOR    THE    BOMBAY    MEETING  (SEE  PAGE  474) 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
BRITISH   RULE   IN   INDIA. 

"What  is  truth?"  asked  Pilate,  and  when  he  had  asked  the  question 
he  went  out  without  waiting  for  an  answer.  The  question  has  been 
asked  many  times  and  answered  in  many  different  ways.  I  was  re- 
minded of  a  similar  question  when  I  read  over  the  door  of  a  court  how-' 
in  Aligarh,  India,  the  motto:  "Justice  is  the  Strength  of  the  British 
Empire."  No  empire,  no  government,  no  society  can  have  any  other 
source  of  permanent  strength.  Lord  Salisbury  is  quoted  by  Indian 
leaders  as  saying:  "Injustice  will  bring  down  the  mightiest  to  ruin,'' 
and  we  all  believe  it.  Wendell  Phillips  expressed  it  as  strongly  and  even 
more  beautifully  when  he  said  (I  quote  from  memory)  :  "You  may 
build  your  capitals  until  they  reach  the  skies,  but  if  they  rest  upon 
injustice,  the  pulse  of  a  woman  will  beat  them  down." 

But  what  is  justice?  How  varied  are  the  answers  given !  The  subject, 
in  the  name  of  justice,  presents  his  appeal  to  his  king,  and  the  sover- 
eign, if  he  be  a  despot,  may  send  him  to  exile  or  the  prison  or  the  block 
and  do  it  in  the  name  of  justice.  What  is  justice?  This  question  has 
been  ringing  in  my  ears  during  our  journey  through  India. 

When  I  was  a  law  student,  I  read  the  speech  of  Sheridan  at  the  trial 
of  Warren  Hastings,  and  that  masterpiece  of  invective  was  recalled  six- 
teen years  later,  when  a  colonial  policy  began  to  be  suggested  in  the 
United  States  after  the  taking  of  Manila.  I  tried  to  inform  myself  in 
regard  to  British  rule  in  India ;  the  more  I  read  about  it,  the  more  un- 
just it  seemed.  So  many  Americans  have,  however,  during  the  last  few 
years  spoken  admiringly  of  England's  colonial  system  that  I  have 
looked  forward  to  the  visit  to  India  with  increasing  interest,  because  of 
the  opportunity  it  would  give  me  to  study  at  close  range  a  question  of 
vital  importance  to  our  own  country.  I  have  met  some  of  the  leading 
English  officials  as  well  as  a  number  in  subordinate  positions;  have 
talked  with  educated  Indians — Hindus,  Mohammedans  and  Parsees; 
have  seen  the  people,  rich  and  poor,  in  the  cities  and  in  the  country, 
and  have  examined  statistics  and  read  speeches,  report-,  petitions  and 
other  literature  that  does  not  find  its  way  to  the  United  States;  and 
British  rule  in  India  is  far  worse,  far  more  burdensome  to  the  people, 

295 


296 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


and  far  more  unjust — if  I  understand  the  meaning  of  the  word — than 
I  had  supposed. 

"When  I  say  this  I  do  not  mean  to  bring  an  indictment  against  the 
English  people  or  to  assert  that  they  are  guilty  of  intentional  wrong- 
doing.  Neither  do  I  mean  to  question  the  motives  of  those  who  are  in 


HIS   EXCELLENCY     THE   EAEL   OF    MLNTO. 


authority.  It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  become  personally  acquainted 

with  Lord  Minto,  the  present  viceroy;  with  Lieutenant  Governor  Fra- 

fche    chief  executive  of  the  province  of  Bengal:  with  Lieutenant 

I       "srnor  La  Touche3  chief  executive  of  the  United  Provinces  of  Agra 


BRITISH    RULE    IN    INDIA  297 

arid  Oudh,  and  with  Governor  Lamington,  chief  executive  of  the  Bom- 
bay presidency,  three  of  the  largest  Indian  states.  These  men,  I  am  sun-, 
represent  the  highest  type  of  their  countrymen.  Lord  Minto  is  fresh 
from  Canada,  where  he  was  governor  general;  Governor  Lamington  was 
the  head  of  the  Australian  government  before  coming  to  India,  and  both 
Governors  Prazer  and  La  Touche  have  Long  official  experience  to  their 
credit.  That  they  will  be  just,  as  they  understand  justice,  and  do  right 
as  they  see  the  right,  I  am  satisfied.    But  what  is  justice? 

The  trouble  is  that  England  acquired  India  for  England's  advantage, 
not  for  India's,  and  that  she  holds  India  for  England's  benefit,  not  for 
India's.  She  administers  India  with  an  eye  single  to  England's  inter- 
ests, not  India's,  and  she  passes  upon  every  question  as  a  judge  would 
were  he  permitted  to  decide  his  own  case.  The  officials  in  India  owe 
their  appointment  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  home  government,  and 
the  home  government  holds  authority  at  the  sufferance  of  the  people  of 
England,  not  of  the  people  of  India.  The  official  who  goes  oul 
from  England  to  serve  a  certain  time  and  then  return,  whose  interests 
are  in  England  rather  than  in  India  and  whose  sympathies  are  nat- 
urally with  the  British  rather  than  with  the  natives,  can  not  be  ex- 
pected to  view  questions  from  the  same  standpoint  a<  the  Indian.-. 
Neither  can  these  officials  be  expected  to  know  the  needs  of  the  people 
as  well  as  those  who  share  their  daily  life  and  aspirations. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  review  the  earlier  rule  under  the  East  India 
Company;  that  is  sufficiently  condemned  by  public  record.  That  com- 
pany was  chartered  for  commercial  purposes,  and  its  rule  had  no  other 
than  a  pecuniary  aim.  It  secured  control  of  state  after  state  by  helping 
one  native  prince  against  another  where  it  did  not  actually  instigate 
war  between  princes.  The  English  government  finally  took  the  colony 
over,  confessedly  because  of  the  outrageous  conduct  of  the  company's 
officials.  No  one  now  defends  the  rule  of  the  East  India  Company, 
although  Warren  Hastings  was  finally  acquitted  by  the  House  of  Lords 
in  spite  of  his  crimes,  out  of  consideration  for  his  public  service  in  ex- 
tending English  authority. 

Is  English  rule  in  India  just,  as  we  find  it  to-day?  Fortunately.  Eng- 
land permits  free  speech  in  England,  although  she  has  sometimes 
restricted  it  in  her  colonies,  and  there  has  not  been  a  public  question 
under  consideration  in  England  for  a  century  which  has  not  brought 
out  independent  opinion.  It  is  the  glory  of  England  that  she  was  an 
early  champion  of  freedom  of  speech,  and  it  is  the  glory  of  Englishmen 
that  they  criticise  their  own  government  when  they  think  it  wrong. 
During  the  American  revolution.  Burke  thundered  his  defense  of  the 
rights  of  the  colonists,  and  Walpole  warned  his  countrymen  that  they 


29S 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


eouljd  not  destroy  American  liberty  without  asserting  principles  which, 
if  carried  out,  -would  destroy  English  liberty  as  well.  During  the  recent 
war  in  South  Africa  the  British  had  no  more  severe  critics  than  were  to 
be  found  among  her  own  people  and  in  her  own  parliament.  And  so, 
to-day. British  rule  in  India  is  as  forcibly  arraigned  by  Englishmen  as 
by  the  Indians  themselves.  While  Mr.  Naoroji,  an  Indian,  goes  to  Eng- 
land and  secures  from  a  meeting  of  a  radical  club  the  adoption  of  a 
resolution  reciting  that  as  ''Britain  has  appropriated  thousands  of  mil- 


VICEROY'S    PALACE    AT    CALCUTTA. 

lions  of  India-  wealth  for  building  up  and  maintaining  her  British  In- 
dian empire  and' for  drawing  directly  vast  wealth  to  herself;"  that  as 
"she  is  continuing  to  drain  about  thirty  million  pounds  sterling  of 
India's  wealth  every  year  unceasingly  in  a  variety  of  ways"  and  that  as 
"she  has  thereby  reduced  the  bulk  of  the  Indian  population  to  extreme 
poverty,  destitution  and  degradation,  it  is  therefore  her  bounden  duty, 
in  common  justice  and  humanity,  to  pay  from  her  own  exchequer  the 
costs  of  all  famines  and  diseases  caused  by  such  impoverishment."  And 
further,  "that  it  is  most  humiliating  and  discreditable  to  the  British 
name  that  other  countries  should  be  appealed  to  or  should  have  to  come 
to  Britain's  help  for  relief  of  Britain's  own  subjects,  and  ufter  and  by 
her  un-British  rule  of  about  one  hundred  and  fiftv  years." 

While,  I  repeat,  Mr.  Naoroji  was  securing  the  unanimous  adoption  of 
the  above  resolution  in  England,  Sir  Henry  Cotton,  now  a  member  of 
parliament,  but  for  thirty-five  years  a  member  of  the  Indian  civil  serv- 


BRITISH    RULE    IN    INDIA  299 

ice,  was  preparing  his  book,  New  India,  in  which  he  courageously  points 
out  the  injustice  from  which  India  now  suffers.  Neither  he  nor  Mr. 
Naoroji  suggests  Indian  independence.  Both  believe  that  English  sov- 
ereignty should  continue,  but  Mr.  Cotton  shows  the  wrongs  now  in- 
ilicted  upon  India  and  the  necessity  for  reform.  Not  only  does  he  charge 
that  the  promises  of  the  queen  have  been  ignored  and  Indians  excluded 
from  service  for  which  they  were  fitted,  but  he  charges  thai  the  antag- 
onism between  the  officials  and  the  people  is  growing  and  that  there  is 
among  civilian  magistrates  "an  undoubted  tendency  to  inflict  severe 
sentences  when  natives  of  India  are  concerned,  and  to  impose  light  and 
sometimes  inadequate  punishment  upon  offenders  of  their  own  race," 
and  that  in  trials  "in  which  Englishmen  are  tried  by  English  juries** 
the  result  is  sometimes  "a  failure  of  justice  not  falling  short  of  judicial 
scandal."  If  justice  can  not  be  found  in  the  court,  where  shall  she  be 
sought? 

After  the  Indian  mutiny,  the  Queen,  in  aproclamation,  promised  that 
natives  should  be  freely  and  impartially  admitted  to  offices,  "the  duties 
of  which  they  might  be  qualified  by  their  education,  ability  and  in- 
tegrity to  discharge."  Lord  Lytton,  a  viceroy  of  India,  in  a  confidential 
document  which  afterward  found  its  way  into  print,  speaking  of  the 
pledges  of  the  sovereign  and  the  parliament  of  England,  said:  "AYe  all 
know  that  these  claims  and  expectations  never  can  be  fulfilled.  We  have 
had  to  choose  between  prohibiting  them  (the  natives  of  India)  and 
cheating  them,  and  we  have  chosen  the  least  straightforward  course." 
And  again:  "Since  I  am  writing  confidentially,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  both  the  governments  of  England  and  of  India  appear  to  me,  up 
to  the  present  moment,  unable  to  answer  satisfactorily  the  charge  of 
having  taken  every  means  in  their  power  of  breaking  to  the  heart  the 
words  of  promise  they  had  uttered  to  the  ear." 

The  government  of  India  is  as  arbitrary  and  despotic  as  the  govern- 
ment of  Russia  ever  was.  and  in  two  respects  it  is  worse.  First,  it  is 
administered  by  an  alien  people,  whereas  the  officials  of  Russia  are 
Russians.  Second,  it  drains  ti  large  part  of  the  taxes  out  of  the  country. 
whereas  the  Russian  government  spends  at  home  the  money  which  it 
collects  from  the  people.  A  third  disadvantage  might  be  named  since 
the  czar  has  recently  created  a  legislative  body,  whereas  England  con- 
tinues to  deny  to  the  Indians  any  form  of  representative  or  constitu- 
tional government.  Under  British  rule  there  is  no  official  corruption 
and  the  government  is  probably  as  impartial  as  an  alien  government 
can  be  expected  to  be,  but  British  rule  has  the  defects  which  are  inher- 
ent in  a  colonial  policy. 


300 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AM)    ITS    WAYS 


The  people  of  India  are  taxed,  but  they  have  no  voice  in  the  amount 
to  be  collected  or  in  the  use  to  be  made  of  the  revenue.  They  pay  into 
the  government  nearly  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars 
a  year,  and  of  this  nearly  one  hundred  millions  is  expended  upon  an 
army  in  which  Indians  can  not  be  officers.  It  is  not  necessary  to  keep 
such  an  army  merely  to  hold  the  people  in  subjection,  if  the  Indians 


SIR  JAMES  DIGGS  LA  TOUCHE. 

are  really  satisfied  with  English  rule;  and  if  the  army  is  intended  to 
keep  Russia  from  taking  India,  as  is  sometimes  claimed,  why  should 
not  the  British  government  bear  a  part  of  the  burden?  Would  it  not  be 
wiser  to  so  attach  the  Indian  people  to  the  British  government  that  they 
would  themselves  resist  annexation  to  Russia? 

The  home  charges,  as  they  are  called,  absorb  practically  one-third  of 
tin-  entire  revenues.    About  one  hundred  million  dollars  go  out  of  India 


BRITISH    RULE    IN'    INDIA  301 

to  England  every  year,  and  over  fifteen  millions  are  paid  to  European 
officials  in  the  civil  employ.  What  cation  could  stand  such  a  drain 
without  impoverishment? 

Taxation  is  nearly  twice  as  heavy  in  India  as  in  England,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  income  of  the  people.  Compared  with  the  people  of  other 
countries,  the  Indian's  income  is,  on  an  average,  one-twentieth  of  the 
average  English  income,  one-seventh  of  the  average  Spaniard's  income. 
one-sixth  of  the  average  Italian's  income,  one-fifth  of  the  (European) 
Russian's  income,  and  one-half  of  the  income  of  the  Turk.  Sir  Henry 
Cotton  shows  that  the  average  pel'  capita,  deposit  in  banks  in  England 
is  one  hundred  dollars  while  the  average  per  capita  deposit  in  India  is 
fifty  cents;  but  how  can  the  Indian  be  expected  to  have  a  large  bank  ac- 
count when  the  average;  yearly  income  is  only  ten  dollars?  I  have,  in 
another  article,  referred  to  the  jewelry  worn  by  Indian  women.  The 
bracelets  and  anklets  are  silver  except  among  the  poorest,  and  this  was 
formerly  a  form  of  hoarding,  but  the  suspension  of  the  coinage  of  sil- 
ver deprived  the  people  of  the  privilege  of  converting  this  hoarded  sil- 
ver into  rupees.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  late  Senator  Wolcott, 
a  member  of  the  monetary  commission  appointed  by  President 
McKinley  in.  1897,  on  his  return  to  Europe  declared  that  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  coinage  of  silver  in  India  had  reduced  the  value  of  the 
savings  of  the  people  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars. The  suspension  was  carried  out  for  the  benefit  of  European 
interests,  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  the  masses. 

So  great  have  been  the  drain,  the  injustice  to  the  people  and  the  tax 
upon  the  resources  of  the  country,  that  famines  have  increased  in  fre- 
quency and  severity.  Mr.  Gokhale,  one  of  the  ablest  of  India's  public 
men,  presided  over  the  meeting  of  the  last  Indian  national  congress 
(held  in  December)  and  declared  in  his  opening  speech  that  the  death 
rate  had  steadily  risen  from  twenty-four  to  the  thousand  in  1882-4  to 
thirty  in  1892-4  and  to  thirty-four  at  the  present  time.  I  have  more 
than  once  within  the  last  month  heard  the  plague  referred  to  as  a  provi- 
dential remedy  for  over-population!  Think  of  it,  British  rule  justified 
because  "it  keeps  the  people  from  killing  each  other"  and  the  plague 
excused  because  it  removes  those  whom  the  government  has  saved  from 
slaughter ! 

The  railroads  with  all  their  advantages  have  been  charged  with  add- 
ing to  the  weight  of  famine  by  carrying  away  the  surplus  grain  in  good 
years,  leaving  no  residue  for  the  years  of  drouth.  "While  grain  can  now 
be  carried  back  more  easily  in  times  of  scarcity,  the  people  are  too  poor 
to  buy  it  with  two  freights  added.   The  storage  of  grain  by  the  govern- 


30$ 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


ment  at  central  points  until  the  new  crop  is  safe  would  bring  some  relief, 
but  it  has  not  been  attempted. 

If  it  is  argued  that  the  railroads  have  raised  the  price  of  grain  in 
the  interior  by  furnishing  a  cheaper  outlet  to  the  sea,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  benefit  has  accrued  not  to  the  people,  nearly  all 
of  whom  are  tenants,  but  to  the  landlords,  the  government  being  the 
largest  holder. 

Not  only  are  the  people 
being  impoverished,  but  the 
land  is  being  worn  out.  Ma- 
nure, which  ought  to  be 
used  to  renew  the  fields,  is 
consumed  as  fuel,  and  no 
sight  is  more  common  in 
India  than  that  of  women 
and  children  gathering  ma- 
nure from  the  roads  with 
their  hands.  This,  when 
mixed  with  straw  and  sun- 
dried,  is  used  in  place  of 
wood,  and  from  the  amount 
of  it  carried  in  baskets,  it 
must  be  one  of  the  chief  ar- 
ticles of  merchandise.  There 
are  now  large  tracts  of  use- 
less land  that  might  be 
brought  under  cultivation 
if  the  irrigation  system  were 
extended.  Proof  of  this  is 
to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  government  of  India 
has  already  approved  of  ex- 
tensions which,  when  made, 
will  protect  seven  million 
acres  and  irrigate  three 
million  acres.  The  esti- 
mated com  of  these  extension-  is  about  forty-five  million  dollars, 
and  llie  plans  are  to  be  carried  out  "as  funds  can  be  provided." 
Ten  per  cent  of  the  army  expenditure,  applied  to  irrigation,  would 
complete  the  system  within  five  years,  but  instead  of  military  expenses 
being  reduced,  the  army  appropriation  was  increased  more  than  ten 
million  dollars  between  1904  and  1905. 


SIR  ANDREW   ERAZER. 


BRITISH    RULE    IN    INDIA 


303 


Of  the  total  amount  raised  from  taxation  each  year,  about  forty  per 
cent  is  raised  from  land,  and  the  rate  is  so  heavy  that  the  people  can  not 
save  enough  when  the  crops  are  good  to  feed  themselves  when  the  crops 
are  bad.  More  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  tax  is  collected  on  salt, 
which  now  pays  about  five-eighths  of  a  cent  per  pound.  This  is  not  only 


LORD  CUEZON. 


a  heavy  rate  when  compared  with  the  original  cost  of  the  salt,  but  it  is 
especially  burdensome  to  the  poor.  The  salt  tax  has  been  as  high  as 
one  cent  a  pound,  and  when  at  that  rate  materially  reduced  the  amount 
of  salt  consumed  by  the  people. 


304  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

The  poverty  of  the  people  of  India  is  distressing  in  the  extreme ;  mil- 
lions live  on  the  verge  of  starvation  all  the  time,  and  one  would  think 
that  their  very  appearance  would  plead  successfully  in  their  behalf. 

The  economic  wrong  done  to  the  people  of  India  explains  the  politi- 
cal wrong  done  to  them.  For  more  than  twenty  years  an  Indian  na- 
tional congress  has  been  pleading  for  a  modified  form  of  representative 
government — not  for  a  severing  of  the  tie  that  binds  India  to  Great 
Britain,  but  for  an  increasing  voice  in  their  local  affairs.  But  this 
request  can  not  be  granted.  Why?  Because  a  local  government,  com- 
posed of  natives  selected  by  the  people,  woiild  protest  against  so  large 
an  army,  reduce  the  taxes  and  put  Indians  at  lower  salaries  into  places 
now  held  by  Europeans.  It  is  the  fear  of  what  an  Indian  local  govern- 
ment would  do  that  prevents  the  experiment,  although  two  other  rea- 
sons, both  insufficient,  are  given.  One  of  these  is  that  the  Indian 
people  are  not  intelligent  enough  and  that  they  must  be  protected  from 
themselves  by  denying  them  a  voice  in  their  own  affairs.  The  other  is 
that  the  Indians  are  so  divided  into  tribes  and  religious  sects  that  they 
can  not  act  harmoniously  together.  The  first  argument  will  not  impress 
any  unprejudiced  traveler  who  has  come  into  contact  with  the  educated 
classes.  There  are  enough  well  informed,  college  trained  native  Indians, 
not  to  speak  of  those,  who,  like  our  own  ancestors  a  few  centuries  ago, 
have  practical  sense  and  good  judgment  without  book  learning,  to  guide 
public  opinion.  While  the  percentage  of  literacy  is  deplorably  small, 
the  total  number  of  educated  men  is  really  considerable,  and  there  are 
at  this  time  seventeen  thousand  students  above  the  secondary  schools 
and  studying  for  the  B.  A.  degree.  There  is  not  a  district  of  any  con- 
siderable size  that  has  not  some  intelligent  men  in  it,  and  these  could  be 
relied  upon  to  direct  the  government  until  a  larger  number  are  quali- 
fied to  assist.  It  is  true  that  native  princes  have  often  seemed  indifferent 
to  the  welfare  of  their  subjects — Princes  who  have  lived  in  great  luxury 
while  the  people  have  been  neglected,  but  to-day  some  of  the  native 
states  vie  with  those  controlled  by  European  officials  in  education  and 
material  advancement.  And  is  not  the  very  fact  that  the  people  are  left 
under  the  government  of  native  princes  in  the  native  states  conclusive 
proof  that  in  all  the  states  the  government  could  be  administered  with- 
out the  aid  of  so  large  a  number  of  Europeans? 

The  second  argument  is  equally  unsound.  To  say  that  the  Indians 
would  necessarily  fight  among  themselves  is  to  ignore  the  progress  of  the 
world.  There  was  a  time  when  Europe  was  the  scene  of  bloody  relig- 
ious war.-,  and  our  own  country  is  indebted  to  the  persecution  of  the 
pilgrims  in  England  for  some  of  its  best  pioneers.  There  has  been  a 
growth  in  religious  tolerance  during  the  last  century,  and  this  is  as 


BRITISH     RULE    IN     INDIA  305 

noticeable  in  India  as  elsewhere.  Already  the  intellectual  Leaders  of 
all  the  sects  and  elements  of  the  Indian  population  are  mingling  in  ('Di- 
gresses, conferences  and  public  meetings.  Already  a  national  spirit  is 
growing  which,  like  the  national  spirit  in  England  and  America,  disre- 
gards religious  lines  and  emphasizes  more  and  more  the  broad  social 
needs  which  are  common  to  all ;  and  with  the  increase  of  general  educa- 
tion there  will  be  still  more  of  unity  and  national  sentiment.  Those 
who  make  this  argument  also  forget  that  as  long  as  England  maintains 
sovereignty  it  will  be  impossible  for  religious  differences  to  lead  to  war 
and  that  differences  in  council  and  in  congress  would  strengthen  rather 
than  weaken  her  position. 

But  why  is  there  a  lack  of  intelligence  among  the  Indians?  Have 
they  not  had  the  blessings  of  British  rule  for  several  generations?  Why 
have  they  not  been  fitted  for  self-government?  Gladstone,  whose  great- 
ness of  head  and  heart  shed  a  lustre  upon  all  Europe,  said :  "It  is  lib- 
erty alone  which  fits  men  for  liberty.  This  proposition,  like  every  other 
in  politics,  has  its  bounds ;  but  it  is  far  safer  than  the  counter  doctrine, 
'wait  till  they  are  fit,'  " 

How  long  will  it  take  to  fit  the  Indians  for  self-government  when 
they  are  denied  the  benefits  of  experience?  They  are  excluded  from 
the  higher  civil  service  (ostensibly  open  to  them)  by  a  cunningly  de- 
vised system  of  examinations  which  makes  it  almost  impossible  for 
them  to  enter.  Not  only  are  the  people  thus  robbed  of  opportunities 
which  rightfully  belong  to  them,  but  the  country  is  deprived  of  the 
accumulated  wisdom  that  wyould  come  w7ith  service,  for  the  alien  officials 
return  to  Europe  at  the  end  of  their  service,  carrying  back  their  wisdom 
and  earnings,  not  to  speak  of  the  pensions  which  they  then  begin  to 
draw. 

The  illiteracy  of  the  Indian  people  is  a  disgrace  to  the  proud  nation 
which  has  for  a  century  and  a  half  controlled  their  destiny.  The  editor 
of  the  Indian  World,  a  Calcutta  magazine,  says  in  last  February's 
number : 

"If  India  has  not  yet  been  fit  for  free  institutions,  it  is  certainly  not 
her  fault.  If,  after  one  and  a  half  centuries  of  British  rule,  India  re- 
mains where  she  was  in  the  Middle  Ages,  what  a  sad  commentary  must 
it  be  upon  the  civilizing  influences  of  that  rule!  When  the  English 
came  to  India,  this  country  was  the  leader  of  Asiatic  civilization  and 
the  undisputed  center  of  light  in  the  Asiatic  world;  Japan  was  then 
nowrhere.  Now%  in  fifty  years,  Japan  has  revolutionized  her  history 
with  the  aid  of  modern  arts  of  progress  and  India,  wTith  an  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of  English  rule,  is  still  condemned  to  tutelage." 

Who  will  answer  the  argument  presented  by  this  Indian  editor? 


306  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS.  WAYS 

And  lie  might  have  made  it  stronger.  Japan,  the  arbiter  of  her  own 
destiny  and  the  guardian  of  her  own  people,  has  in  half  a  century 
bounded  from  illiteracy  to  a  position  where  ninety  per  cent  of  her 
people  can  read  and  write  and  is  now  thought  worthy  to  enter  into 
an  Anglo-Japanese  alliance,  while  India,  condemned  to  political  servi- 
tude, and  sacrificed  for  the  commercial  advantage  of  another  nation, 
still  sits  in  darkness,  less  than  one  per  cent  of  her  women  able  to  read 
and  write  and  less  than  ten  per  cent  of  her  total  population  sufficiently 
advanced  to  communicate  with  each  other  by  letter  or  to  gather  knowl- 
edge from  the  printed  page.  In  the  speech  above  referred  to,  Mr. 
Gokhale  estimates  that  four  villages  out  of  every  five  are  without  a 
school  house,  and  this,  too,  in  a  country  where  the  people  stagger  under 
an  enormous  burden  of  taxation.  The  published  statement  for  1904-5 
shows  that  the  general  government  appropriated  but  six  and  a  half 
million  dollars  for  education  while  more  than  ninety  millions  were 
appropriated  for  "army  service,"  and  the  revised  estimate  for  the  next 
year  shows  an  increase  of  a  little  more  than  half  a  million  for  educa- 
tion while  the  army  received  an  increase  of  more  than  twelve  millions. 

The  government  has,  it  is  true,  built  a  number  of  colleges  (with 
money  raised  by  taxation),  but  it  is  gradually  extending  the  system 
of  primary  and  secondary  schools  (also  with  taxes),  though  the  progress 
is  exceedingly  slow  and  the  number  of  schools  grossly  inadequate. 
Benevolent  Englishmen  have  also  aided  the  cause  of  education  by  estab- 
lishing private  schools  and  colleges  under  church  and  other  control, 
but  the  amount  returned  to  India  in  this  way  is  insignificant  when 
compared  with  the  amount  annually  drawn  by  England  from  India. 

It  is  not  scarcity  of  money  that  delays  the  spread  of  education  in 
India,  but  the  deliberate  misappropriation  of  taxes  collected,  and  the 
system  which  permits  this  disregard  of  the  welfare  of  the  subjects  and 
the  subordination  of  their  industries  to  the  supposed  advancement  of 
another  nation's  trade  is  as  indefensible  upon  political  and  economic 
grounds  as  upon  moral  grounds.  If  more  attention  wrere  given  to 
the  intellectual  progress  of  the  people  and  more  regard  shown  for  their 
wishes,  it  would  not  require  so  many  soldiers  to  compel  loyalty  to 
England,  neither  would  it  require  a  large  army  to  preserve  peace  and 
order.  If  agriculture  were  protected  and  encouraged  and  native  in- 
dustries built  up  and  diversified,  England's  commerce  with  India  would 
be  greater,  for  prosperous  people  would  buy  more  than  can  be  sold 
to  India  to-day,  when  so  many  of  her  sons  and  daughters  are  like 
walking  shadows. 

Lord  Curzon,  the  most  brilliant  of  India's  viceroys  of  recent  years, 
inaugurated  a  policy  of  reaction.     He  not  only  divided  Bengal  with  a 


GOV.      I.AM. IN tiTON— BOMBAY,    INDIA 


308  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

view  of  lessening  the  political  influence  of  the  great  province,  but 
he  adopted  an  educational  system  which  the  Indians  believe  was  in- 
tended to  discourage  higher  education  among  th°,  native  population. 
The  result,  however,  was  exactly  the  opposite  of  that  which  was  in- 
truded. It  aroused  the  Indians  and  made  them  conscious  of  the 
possession  of  powers  which  they  had  not  before  employed.  As  the  cold 
autumn  wind  scatters  winged  seeds  far  and  wide,  so  Lord  Curzon's 
administration  spread  the  seeds  of  a  national  sentiment,  and  there 
is  more  life  in  India  to-day,  and  therefore  more  hope,  than  there  has 
ever  been  before.  So  high  has  feeling  run  against  the  government 
that  there  has  been  an  attempted  boycott  of  English  made  goods,  and 
there  is  now  a  well  organized  movement  to  encourage  the  use  of  goods 
made  in  India. 

Let  no  one  cite  India  as  an  argument  in  defense  of  colonialism. 
On  the  Ganges  and  the  Indus  the  Briton,  in  spite  of  his  many  noble 
qualities  and  his  large  contributions  to  the  world's  advancement,  has 
demonstrated,  as  many  have  before,  man's  inability  to  exercise,  with 
wisdom  and  justice,  irresponsible  power  over  helpless  people.  He  has 
conferred  some  benefits  upon  India,  but  he  has  extorted  a  tremendous 
price  for  them.  While  he  has  boasted  of  bringing  peace  to  the  liv- 
ing, he  has  led  millions  to  the  peace  of  the  grave;  while  he  has  dwelt 
upon  order  established  between  warring  tribes,  he  has  impoverished 
the  country  by  legalized  pillage.  Pillage  is  a  strong  word,  but  no  re- 
finement of  language  can  purge  the  present  system  of  its  iniquity. 
How  long  will  it  be  before  the  quickened  conscience  of  England's  Chris- 
tian people  will  heed  the  petition  that  swells  up  from  fettered  India 
and  apply  to  Britain's  greatest  colony  the  doctrines  of  human  broth- 
erhood that  have  given  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  the  prestige  it  now 
enjoys? 

Note — The  article  on  British  Rule  in  India  has  been  severely  criticized  by  the 
government  papers  in  India  and  as  heartily  praised  by  prominent  representatives 
of  the  native  population.  Delegations  of  Indians  called  upon  me  in  London,  Paris 
and  New  York  to  express  their  thanks. 

In  view  of  this  criticism,  I  give  below  a  few  facts  in  support  of  the  views 
ressed    in   the   article. 

In  Whitaker's  Almanac  for  1906  (published  in  London),  the  appro- 
priation for  education  is  given  at  1,298,000  pounds  in  1902-3,  1,368.- 
000  pounds  in  1903-4,  and  1,474,000  pounds  in  1904-5.  The  appro- 
priation for  army  services  is  given  at  17,346,000  pounds  for  1902-3, 
592,000  pounds  for  1903-4,  and  20,463,000  pounds  for  1904-5. 
(The  figures  for  1904-5  are  described  as  "revised  estimates"  in  both 
cases.)  *  Multiplying  the  pounds  by  five,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  appro- 


BRITISH    RULE    EN    INDIA 


P.iiii 


priation  for  education  is  aboul  seven   million  dollars  and  the  appro- 
priation for  army  service-    (for   the   Lasl   year)    aboul   one   hundred 

and  two  millions.     What  defense  can  he  made  for  the  expenditure  of 
more  than  thirteen  limes  as  much  for  the  army  as  for  education? 

Within  a  (Vw  days  after  the  publication  of  my  article,  Hon.  John 
Morley,  Secretary  for  India,  delivered  a  speech  in  Parliament  upon 
the  Indian  budget.     The  following  quotations  show  thai  he  has  made 

the  same  criticism 
on  three  important 
mailer-.  First,  on 
the  sail  lax.  lie 
says: 

"Bui   for  my  part 
I  cannol  regard,  and 
T    will     not     regard 
will)    satisfaction,  or 
even    with    patience, 
the  continuance  al   a 
high  scale    of    a  tax 
on  a  prime  necessity 
of  life.    (Cheers.)" 
And  again: 
"11  i-  not  that  the 
Indian  is  more  heav- 
ily burdened   in  the 
matter    of    the    salt 
duty   than    the    Kal- 
ian.     But,     however 
that    may   be,    I    am 
glad    to    think    that 
the  very  able  and  ex- 
pert   financial   mem- 
ber of  the  Viceroy's 
council      hopes      to 
make  further  reduction  in  the  duty,  even  though  he  cannot  go  so  far 
as  I  should  like  to  go,  and  sweep  the  thing  away  altogether.  (Cheers.)" 
On  the  expenditure  for  the  army,  he  says : 

"So  far,  I  have  given  a  rose-colored — I  hope  a  true  colored — picture. 
In  military  expenditure,  however,  we  have  the  shadow.  Comparing 
broadly  1906-7  with  the  figures  of  ten  years  ago,  there  is  an  increase 
in  the  strength  of  the  army  of  four  thousand  one  hundred  a'hd  forty 
-even  men.    Tn  1896-7  the  number  was  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven 


INDIAN   STUDENTS. 


310  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS   WAYS 

thousand  men  and  in  1906-7,  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  thousand 
five  hundred  men.  But  the  remarkable  circumstance  comes  out  that 
in  British  cavalry  and  infantry  there  is  no  increase.  The  only  im- 
portant addition  to  the  fighting  strength  of  the  army  are  an  increase 
in  our  artillery  and  an  increase  in  the  number  of  British  officers  to  the 
tune  of  one  thousand  That  is  a  large  and  costly  addition,  but  I  will  not 
argue  it  now.  The  net  army  expenditure  in  India,  British  and  native,  in 
1898-7,  was  fifteen  million  pounds ;  the  estimate  for  1906-7  is  eighteen 
million  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds — an  increase  of  three  million 
seven  hundred  thousand  pounds.  (This  is  an  estimate  of  the  net 
expenditure,  the  Whitaker  estimate  is  gross.)  This  has  to  be  divided 
into  two  equal  items  of  one  million  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds  for  ordinary  and  special  military  expenditure.  I  invite  the 
House  to  attend  to  one  element  in  the  increase  in  the  ordinary  ex- 
penditure. The  House  will  remember  that  the  late  government  found 
it  necessary  to  grant  additional  pay  to  the  non-commissioned  officers 
and  men  in  the  British  army  in  India.  Those  were  circumstances 
for  which  neither  the  Government  nor  the  governed  in  India  had  a 
shadow  of  responsibility.  They  were  not  responsible  for  those  social 
circumstances  which  made  it  necessary  to  add  to  the  pay  of  the  British 
soldier,  but  the  increase  of  pay  in  the  British  contingent  of  the  Indian 
military  force  Avas  saddled  on  India  to  the  tune  of  nearly  a  million 
sterling." 

On  higher  civil  service  he  confesses  the  injustice  done  the  Indians. 
He  says : 

"In  regard  to  the  question  of  the  employment  of  Indians  in  the 
higher  offices,  I  think  a  move — a  definite  and  deliberate  move — ought 
to  be  made  with  the  view  of  giving  competent  -and  able  natives  the 
same  access  to  the  higher  posts  in  the  administration  that  are  given 
to  our  own  countrymen.  (Cheers.)  There  is  a  famous  sentence  in 
the  Queen's  proclamation  of  1858  which  says: — 'It  is  our  further  will 
that,  so  far  as  may  be,  our  subjects,  of  whatever  race  or  creed,  be  freely 
and  impartially  admitted  to  offices  in  our  service-offices,  the  duties  of 
which  they  may  be  qualified  by  their  educational  talents  and  ability 
duly  to  discharge.'  I  think  those  words,  'so  far  as  may  be,'  have  been 
somewhat  misinterpreted  in  the  past.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  min- 
isters who  advised  Queen  Victoria  in  framing  one  of  the  most  mem- 
orable documents  in  all  our  history  meant  those  words  to  be  construed 
in  a  narrow,  literal,  restricted  or  pettifogging  sense.  (Cheers.)  I  do 
not  believe  that  parliament  ever  intended  this  promise  of  the  Queen's 
should  be  construed  in  any  but  a  liberal  and  generous  sense.  The 
Governor-General  of  India  to-day  is,  T  am  glad  to  say,  a  man  of  a.  firm 


BRITISH    RULE    IN    INDIA 


311 


texture  of  mind.  I  do  not  believe  the  Governor-General  has  any 
intention  of  riding  off  on  a  narrow  interpretation  of  a  promise  which 
was  as  wise  and  politic  as  it  was  just.  (Hear,  hear.)  I  do  not  know 
if  there  is  any  case  in  history  of  an  autocratic,  personal  or  absolute 
government  co-existing  with  free  speech  and  free  right  of  meeting. 
For  as  long  a  time  as  my  poor  imagination  can  pierce  through,  for 
so  long  a  time  our  government  in  India  must  partake,  and  in  no  small 
degree,  of  the  personal  and  absolute  clement.  But  that  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  try  this  great  experiment  of  -bowing  that  you 
can  have  a  strong  and  effective  administration  along  with  free  speech 
andiree  institutions,  and  being  all  the  better  and  all  the  more  effective 
because  of  free  speech  and  free  institutions.  (Cheers.)  That  policy 
is  a  noble  one  to  think  of,  but  the  task  is  arduous;  and  because  it  is 
noble  and  because  it  is  arduous,  I  recommend  the  policy,  of  which  I 
have  only  given  a  broad  outline,  to  the  adoption  of  the  House." 
(Cheers.) 


FAMOUS  ASOKA  PILLAR. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

ANCIENT  EGYPT. 

We  have  been  moving  among  the  oldest  monuments  reared  by  man. 
and  they  make  the  rest  of  the  world  seem  young.  In  Japan  a  Bud- 
dhist temple,  built  twelve  hundred  years  ago,  impressed  us  with  the 
youthfulness  of  American  institutions;  in  China  we  were  shown  tem- 
ples  that  had  stood  for  twenty  centuries  and  were  told  of  customs 
and  laws  even  older;  in  India  we  found  a  pagoda  some  twenty-five 
hundred  years  old,  and  visited  the  site  of  a  city  whose  foundations 
were  probably  laid  more  than  three  thousand  years  ago;  but  here  we 
see  the  mummied  forms  of  human  beings  who  lived  two  thousand 
years  before  Christ  was  born,  inspect  the  handiwork  of  men  who 
laid  down  the  chisel  before  Abraham  appeared  upon  the  earth,  look 
upon  colors  that  have  withstood  the  changes  and  defied  the  elements 
of  forty  centuries,  and  handle  wheat  that  grew  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  long  before  Joseph  built  granaries  for  Pharaoh.  The  guides 
count  centuries  as  trippingly  on  the  tongue  as  a  treasury  expert  or  an 
insurance  magnate  handles  millions.  They  discuss  dynasties  that 
rose  and  fell  when  Europe  was  shrouded  in  darkness,  before  the  light 
of  history  dawned  upon  the  Ganges  and  the  Yangtse;  they  decipher 
hieroglyphics  that  kept  their  secrets  for  ages  and  lead  one  among 
ruins  that  astonish  by  their  immensity  as  well  as  by  the  artistic  skill 
which  they  reveal. 

Back  in  the  misty  past — in  the  prehistoric  period — there  were  two 
Egyptian  kingdoms,  one  occupying  upper,  and  the  other  lower  Egypt. 
This  was  prior  to  2,500  b.  c,  and  from  the  stirring  scenes  engraved 
upon  stone,  one  can  imagine  the  conflicts  which  took  place  along  the 
fertile  valley  of  the  Nile  before  Menes,  the  earliest  known  ruler,  united 
the  two  kingdom-,  assumed  the  title,  Lord  of  Both  Lands,  fashioned 
a  double  crown  for  himself,  and  adopted  the  lily,  or  lotus,  and  the 
papyrus  as  symbols  of  his  consolidated  empire.  We  are  probably 
indebted  to  certain  natural  peculiarities  of  Egypt  for  the  preservation 
of  the  unique  evidences  of  ancient  civilization  found  here.  First, 
there  is  but   a   small  area  of  tillable  land  stretched  along  the  most 

312 


ANCIENT   EGYPT 


318 


wonderful  of  rivers  and  guarded  on  cither  side  by  a  barren  waste  that 
offers  greater  protection  than  a  wall.  Second,  the  climate  of  Egypt  is 
dry,  and  there  are  no  drenching  rains  to  deface  and  qo  violent  changes 
of  temperature  to  disintegrate.  Third,  the  temples  and  tombs  are 
so  massively  built  as  to  discourage  the  vandal;  and  fourth,  the  sands 
of  the  desert  have  drifted  in  and  concealed  for  a  hundred  genera- 
tions many  of  the  most  valuable  of  these  relics  of  a  bygone  age. 

There  is  such  a  wealth  of  archaeological  treasures  here  that  one 
scarcely  knows  where  to  begin  or  how  to  condense  the  most  important 
things  into  the  -pace  allotted  to  a  newspaper  article  I  shall  not  at- 
tempt to  describe  things  chronologically,  because  some  of  the  temples 
have  been  added  to  by  different  kings  and  dynastic-,  until  they  repre- 


KARXAK   TEMPLE. 


sent  the  art  and  life  of  many  hundred  years.  The  temple  at  Karnak, 
for  instance,  bears  the  impress  of  Egypt's  rulers  from  Thutmosis  to 
the  Barneses,  and  from  the  Rameses  to  the  Ptolemies,  a  period  of  some 
twelve  hundred  years,  and  the  building  of  the  numerous  pyramids 
covered  even  a  longer  time. 

As  the  tourist  usually  begins  a  trip  through  Egypt  with  a  visit 
to  Cairo,  he  is  likely  to  find  the  great  Egyptian  museum,  the  Museum 
of  Gizeh,  a  fitting  introduction  to  his  subsequent  investigations.  Here 
one  finds  samples  of  all  the  antiquities  of  the  country,  excepting  the 
pyramids  and  the  temples,  and  there  are  munimie-.  sarcophagi,  statues, 
carvings  and  hieroglyphics  from  these.  A  considerable  -pace  is  de- 
voted to  mummies,  some  from  the  tombs  of  kings.  bu1  many  of  more 


314 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


humble  rank.  The  early  Egyptians  believed  that  man  was  composed 
of  several  different  entities.  First,  there  was  the  body,  and  second, 
the  double — a  sort  of  invisible  form  reproducing  the  features  of  the 
body.  Next  came  the  soul,  represented  as  a  human-headed  bird  and 
then  u  spark  of  the  divine  fire  called  Khu,  which  has  been  translated 
as  "the  Luminous."  It  was  to  prevent  the  departure  of  these  attend- 
ing forms  thai  embalming  was  resorted  to.  By  suspending  the  decom- 
position of  the  body,  they  thought  that  they  could  preserve  the  con- 


Mr  .mm  v. 


Wooden   STATUE. 


iicct ioi i  between  it  and  the  Double,  the  Soul  and  the  Luminous,  and 
by  prayers  and  offering-  these  could  be  saved  from  the  second  death. 
This  is  the  explanation  of  the  mummy  given  by  archaeologists.  The 
Double,  it  was  supposed,  never  left  the  place  where  the  mummy 
rested,  and  the  Soul,  while  it  went  away  to  commune  with  the  god-. 
returned  from  time  to  time,  and  for  this  reason  rooms  were  made 
for  the  reception  of  the  Soul  and  for  the  habitation  of  the  Double. 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  31  r. 

One  can  hardly  believe  as  he  looks  upon  the  shriveled  forms  that 
they  were  interred  so  long  ago.  1  will  enclose  with  this  article  a 
photograph  of  the  mummy  of  Egypt's  great  builder,  and  known  as 
"the  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression,"  who  died  more  than  three  thou- 
sand years  ago.  The  hand  no  longer  sways  the  scepter;  the  eyes  look 
no  more  upon  the  gigantic  statues  which  he  scattered  along  the  Nile, 
and  the  voice  does  not  now  demand  the  making  of  "bricks  without 
straw,"  but  the  mortal  remains  of  this  famous  ruler  vividly  recall  the 
days  of  Israel's  bondage. 

With  the  mummies  are  many  mummy  cases,  some  covered  with 
hieroglyphics,  some  ornamented  with  pictures  in  colors,  and  most 
of  them  covered  with  a  lid  upon  which  are  a  face  mask  and  an  outline 
of  the  form  of  the  occupant.  The  process  by  which  these  bodies  have 
been  preserved  is  still  a  mystery,  but  the  fact  that  they  have  outlived 
dynasties  and  survived  the  countless  .changes  of  so  many  centuries 
gives  to  them  a  lasting  interest.  The  collection  of  statues  and  images 
of  gods,  human  beings,  beasts  and  birds  runs  up  into  the  thousands. 
Some  of  these  are  heroic  in  size,  others  are  not  more  than  an  inch 
in  height ;  some  are  strong,  some  beautiful  and  some  grotesque.  Gran- 
ite, both  red  and  black,  alabaster,  stone,  iron,  bronze  and  clay — all 
have  been  brought  into  requisition  for  this  work.  Some  of  the  bronze 
has,  upon  analysis,  been  found  to  contain  practically  the  same  com- 
bination of  metals  as  the  bronze  now  used.  There  axe  even  statues 
in  wood,  and  one  of  these — a  photograph  of  wThich  I  secured — attracted 
my  attention  because  the  head  and  face  bear  a  resemblance  to  the 
late  Senator  Hanna.  It  is  called  "Sheikh  el  Beled"  or  Village  Chief; 
that  it  should  have  resisted  decay  for  more  than  forty  centuries  is  lit- 
tle less  than  marvelous. 

While  the  excavators  have  been  searching  for  historical  records, 
they  have  occasionally  found  treasures  of  great  pecuniary  value.  A 
considerable  quantity  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  form  of  jewelry  has 
been  unearthed,  and  the  museum  contain-  specimens  of  exquisite 
workmanship  which  not  only  display  the  skill  of  the  artificers  but 
portray  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  early  Egyptians. 

The  museum  also  contains  enough  of  cloth,  found  with  the  mum- 
mies, and  of  pictures  of  looms,  to  show  that  weaving  was  an  industry 
with  which  the  people  of  those  days  were  familiar. 

But  we  must  leave  the  museum  and  proceed  to  those  masterpieces 
which  are  too  large  for  any  roof,  save  that  formed  by  the  vaulted 
skies.  I  am,  however,  constrained  to  offer  one  criticism  of  the  museum 
in  passing.  It  is  under  the  control  of  a  French  society,  and  the  only 
catalogue  obtainable  is  printed  in   French.      While   mosl    of  the   ex- 


316  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

hibits  bear  a  brief  description  in  both  French  and  English,  some  are 
labeled  in  French  only  and  a  few  not  at  all.  As  there  are  no  guides 
to  show  a  visitor  through  the  numerous  rooms  and  point  out  the 
principal  objects  of  interest,  those  who  are  unable  to  read  French  are 
at  a  great  disadvantage.  Considering  the  number  of  English  and 
American  tourists  it  seems  strange  that  more  attention  should  not 
be  paid  to  their  accommodation. 

But  to  the  temples.  We  reached  Egypt  after  the  regular  tourist 
season  was  over  and  could  not  visit  all  the  ruins.  We  selected  the 
most  famous,  those  of  the  two  ancient  cities,  Thebes  and  Memphis,  and 
they  alone  would  repay  a  visit  to  Egypt.  The  present  city  of  Luxor, 
four  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  Cairo,  covers  a  small  part  of 
the  vast  area  once  occupied  by  "Hundred-gated  Thebes."  In  the  very 
heart  of  the  city  a  mammoth  temple  has  been  found  where  kings  wor- 
shiped through  many  reigns.  It  was  built  during  the  eighteenth 
dynasty  (b.  c.  1500)  on  the  site  of  a  still  older  sanctuary  and  dedi- 
cated to  Ammon,  his  wife,  Mut,  and  their  son,  Khons,  the  Moon-god. 
Some  of  the  columns  are  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  more  than  forty  feet 
in  height,  and  support  great  blocks  of  red  granite  twenty  feet  long 
and  four  feet  in  width  and  thickness.  Some  of  the  columns  represent 
clustered  papyrus  and  have  capitals  shaped  like  the  lotus  bud.  In  the 
temple  arc  a  number  of  statues  of  Rameses  II,  some  sitting,  some 
standing.  One  of  these  statues  is  forty-five  feet  in  height,  and 
another  of  less  dimensions  was  unearthed  only  about  a  year  ago. 
When  excavations  were  begun  houses  were  serenely  resting  on  the  top 
of  the  temple,  and  it  is  believed  that  further  excavations  will  disclose 
an  avenue  leading  to  other  temples  two  miles  away. 

In  front  of  the  Luxor  temple  is  an  obelisk  of  pink  granite,  a  part 
of  which  is  still  under  ground.  Obelisks  were  always  erected  in 
pairs,  and  the  companion  of  this  one  was  removed  some  years  ago  to 
Paris.  These  great  monoliths  come  down  to  us  from  the  period  when 
the  Egyptians  worshiped  the  sun,  and  they  were  intended  to  rep- 
resent  his  rays.  The  oldest  Egyptian  obelisk  is  at  Heliopolis,  not 
far  from  Cairo,  and  is  sixty-six  feet  in  height.  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  erected  2000  to  2200  b.  c,  but  it  is  in  an  excellent  state  of 
preservation  and  bids  fair  to  bear  testimony  for  ages  yet  to  the  rever- 
ence felt  by  the  ancients  for  the  sun.  At  one  time  Heliopolis  was  a 
thriving  city  and  is  referred  to  in  the  Bible  as  "On,"  but  to-day  the 
obelisk  stands  alone  in  the  midst  of  cultivated  fields,  all  the  buildings 
having  disappeared. 

While  the  obelisk  at  Heliopolis  outranks  all  others  in  age,  the  one 
at  Karnak,  in  the  suburbs  of  Luxor,  has  the  distinction  of  being  the 


ANCIENT    EGYPT  317 

tallest  one  yet  remaining.  It  is  eight  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter  at 
the  base  and  ninety-seven  and  a  half  feet  in  height  (eight  and  a 
half  feet  less  than  the  obelisk  at  Rome).  The  obelisks  were  cut  in 
a  single  shaft,  most  of  them  from  granite  quarries  near  Assuan. 
These  quarries  are  more  than  five  hundred  miles  south  of  Cairo, 
and  it  is  supposed  that  the  obelisks  were  transported  on  the  Nile  to 
the  places  where  they  have  since  been  found,  but  how  they  were  han- 
dled or  placed  in  position  no  one  knows. 

The  temple  of  Amnion,  at  Karnak,  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
most  interesting  of  temple-ruins  in  Egypt.  Tt  is  the  work  of  many 
kings,  one  adding  a  sanctuary, another  a  pylon, another  a  court,  etc. — 
each  placing  his  cartouche,  or  seal,  upon  his  work.  '  This  temple, 
which  was  officially  styled  the  Throne  of  the  World,  covers  an  im- 
mense area.  One  pylon,  or  gateway,  is  more  than  three  hundred 
feet  wide,  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  has  walls  sixteen 
feet  thick.  One  court  covers  almost  a  thousand  square  yards,  and 
one  aisle  leads  between  pillars  sixty-nine  feet  in  height,  about  twelve 
feet  in  diameter  and  supporting  capitals  of  eleven  feet.  The  stone- 
used  in  this  temple  are  of  enormous  size,  and  they  were  probably  raised 
to  their  positions  on  scaffolding  of  earth — this  being  also  the  method 
employed  where  attempts  have  recently  been  made  to  restore  fallen 
columns. 

The  hieroglyphics  upon  the  walls,  the  columns,  the  obelisks  and 
the  statues,  after  remaining  a  puzzle  for  ages,  have  been  deciphered 
and  woven  into  a  consecutive  history.  This  wa  •  made  possible  by  the 
discovery,  in  1799,  of  what  is  known  as  the  "Rosetta  stone"  (now  in  the 
British  Museum)  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rosetta  arm  of  the  Nile  by  a 
French  engineer  named  Bouchard.  This  stone  bears  a  decree  inscribed 
in  three  languages — ancient  Egyptian,  modern  Egyptian  and  Greek, 
and  furnishes  the  key  to  unlock  the  secrets  of  ancient  history. 

The  pictures  represent  sacrificial  ceremonies,  domestic  and  indus- 
trial scenes,  battles,  triumphal  processions — all  phases  of  life,  in  fact. 
One  wall  contains,  in  hieroglyphics,  the  treaty  of  peace  which  Rame- 
ses  II  concluded  with  the  Hittites,  while  another  wall  represents  Rame- 
ses  III  holding  a  group  of  prisoners  by  the  hair  and  raising  a  club  as 
if  to  strike.  Close  by,  the  god  Amnion  is  delivering  to  him  chained 
representatives  of  different  vanquished  nations,  the  faces  being  so  true 
to  life  that  the  Israelites  brought  from  Palestine  can  be  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Ethiopians  and  Nubians  of  the  south.  One  of  the 
heads  seen  often  in  the  drawings  resembles  "the  yellow  kid,"  and  the 
donkeys  are  exactly  like  those  seen  to-day. 


318  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Luxor  and  Karnak  are  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Nile,  but  Thebes  re- 
quired both  >i(lc>  of  the  river  for  her  great  population,  and  the  west 
hank  is  also  rich  in  evidences  of  ancient  civilization.  The  Rameseum 
is  lure  and  would  attract  more  attention  if  it  were  not  overshadowed 
by  larger  temples;  here  also  are  the  "Colossi  of  Memmon,"  one  of  them 
known  to  literature  as  the  singing  statue.  This  is  described  by  Strabo 
and  Juvenal  and  bears  many  inscriptions  in  Latin  and  Greek  made 
by  those  who  visited  it  under  the  Roman  rule.  Hadrian  looked  upon 
it  150  A.  dv  and  a  poetess  of  his  day  declares  that  the  statue  greeted 
the  emperor.  It  is  supposed  that  the  sound  which  for  many  years 
issued  from  the  head  of  the  statue  just  after  sunrise  was  caused  by 
the  change  in  temperature,  the  granite  having  been  cracked;  at  any 
rate,  the  sound  ceased  when  the  statue  was  repaired.  It  now  sits 
silent,  and  with  its  companion  gazes  upon  the  barley  field  that  reaches 
out  in  every  direction  from  their  feet. 

But  mure  interesting  than  the  Rameseum  or  the  Colossi  are  the 
tombs  of  the  kings,  some  forty-two  of  which  have  already  been  dis- 
covered. At  this  point  the  west  side  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile  is  walled 
in  by  a  range  of  limestone  hills,  one  of  which  bears  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  a  pyramid.  (Could  it  have  suggested  the  idea  of  a  pyramid 
for  a  tomb?)  Leaving  the  valley  of  the  Nile  about  two  miles  north 
of  this  pyramidal  hill,  there  is  a  small  dry  valley  which  wends  its  way 
back  through  the  hills  and  terminates  at  the  foot  of  steep  walls  just  west 
of  the  hill  mentioned.  Here  are  the  tombs,  hewn  in  the  solid  rock, 
the  most  elaborate  of  which  is  the  tomb  of  Sethos,  or  Seti,  the  father 
of  Rameses  II.  This  tomb  burrows  into  the  hill  to  the  depth  of  three 
hundred  and  thirty  feet,  a  flight  of  steps  leading  down  through  dif- 
ferent levels  and  different  chambers  to  the  final  vault.  The  walls  are 
covered  with  figures  in  colors  representing  the  king  in  the  act  of  mak- 
ing offerings  to  the  various  gods.  There  are  also  drawings  illustrating 
-ccnes  in  this  world  and  life  as  it  is  supposed  to  be  in  the  next  world. 
Some  of  these  pictures  portray  a  hell  where  the  wicked  are  punished 
with  lire,  and  there  are  also  drawings  which  have  been  interpreted  to 
represent  the  resurrection  and  judgment. 

Not  far  away  is  the  tomb  of  "the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus"  which 
contain-  a  granite  image  of  the  king,  and  close  by  this  tomb  is  another 
in  which  the  mummied  form  of  a  Pharaoh  still  reposes.  Grave  rob- 
bing, however,  was  so  popular  an  amusement  in  those  days  that  the 
bodies  of  nearly  all  the  kings  had  been  removed  for  safety  to  a  secret 
vault,  which  was  so  carefully  concealed  that  they  were  not  found  until 
the  nineteenth  century. 


ANCIENT    EGYPT 


319 


At  Memphis,  which  is  only  about  eighteen  miles  from  Cairo,  there 
are  tombs  of  less  importance,  colossal  statues  ofRameses  Hand  the  sar- 
cophagi of  the  sacred  bulls.  In  one  of  the  tombs  or  Mastabas,  as  tombs 
of  this  style  are  called,  are  some  of  the  drawings  that  have  been  most 
widely  reproduced.  In  one  place  a  boy  is  fattening  geese  by  the 
stuffing  process;  in  another,  cranes  are  being  fed;  here,  ram-  are  tread- 
ing in  the  seed,  and  the  cattle,  horned  and  hornless,  are  being  driven 
through  a  river.  Agriculture,  ship-building,  carpentering  ami  other 
industries  arc  minutely  pictured.  While  the  human  figures  are  -till 
and  angular,  the  birds  and  beasts  are  so  exactly  like  what  we  see  to-day 


THE   PYRAMID  AND  THE  SPHINX, 

that  one  could  easily  believe  them  to  have  been  drawn  by  a  modern 
artist. 

The  sarcophagi  of  the  sacred  bulls,  twenty-four  in  number,  are  hol- 
lowed out  from  single  pieces  of  granite  and  are  covered  with  immense 
slabs  of  the  same  kind  of  stone.  Each  is  large  enough  to  contain 
a  good  sized  animal,  and  some  of  them  are  covered  with  hieroglyphic- 
giving  the  pedigrees  of  the  blue-blooded  occupants.  These  caskets  of 
the  royal  line  rest  in  subterranean  vaults  hewn  out  of  rock  and  con- 
nected by  spacious  halls. 

Still  nearer  to  Cairo,  only  six  miles  away,  in  fact,  are  the  great  pyra- 
mids of  Gizeh — Cheops  and  Khephren.     These  have  been  described 


320 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


so  often  that  any  elaborate  comment  upon  them  might  weary  the 
reader.  We  climbed  to  the  summit  of  the  largest,  and  by  doing  so 
not  only  gained  an  idea  of  the  immensity  of  this  three  million  cubic 
feet  of  stone,  but  obtained  an  excellent  view  of  the  green  valley  on  the 
one  side  and  the  yellow  plain  of  shifting  sand  upon  the  other,  for 
these  pyramids  stand  upon  the  dividing  line  between  Egypt's  far 
famed  fertile  lands  and  one  of  the  most  barren  of  earth's  deserts.  We 
also  followed  the  narrow  passage  which  leads  to  the  center  of  the 
pyramid  and  peered  into  the  empty  granite  sarcophagus  which,  for 
more  than  four  thousand  years,  kept  the  body  of  the  builder  con- 
cealed from  the  sight  of  man,  and  when  we  came  out,  half  crawling 
and  half  climbing,  each  assisted  by  two  Arabs,  our  muscles  as  well 
as  our  memories  testified  that  we  had  seen  all  of  this  stupendous  pile. 
At  the  foot  of  these  two  pyramids  stands  the  silent  Sphinx,  and  near 
it  a  granite  temple  almost  as  old.  The  Sphinx  itself  is  a  little  disap- 
pointing because  photographs  often  show  it  in  the  foreground  and 
the  pyramids  behind  it,  and  it  thus  appears  relatively  larger  than  it 
really  is.  It  represents  the  body  of  an  animal  with  a  human  head 
and  is  cut  from  a  huge  stone  that  juts  out  into  the  valley.  It  was  a 
grand  conception  of  the  brain  of  one  long  ago  forgotten  and  is  the 
oldest  product  of  the  chisel  of  man.  It  ha^  outlived  unnumbered 
generations  and  seems  to  mock  at  time.  Its  position  by  the  pyra- 
mids is  a  tilting  one,  and  looking  upon  it  and  them  one  is  awed  by 
the  sense  of  their  antiquity  and  recognizes  the  appropriateness  of  the 
Lines  of  the  lecturer,  Stoddard: 

Eternal  Sphinx; 
The  pyramids  are  thine; 
Their  giant  summits  guard  thee  night  and  day; 

On  thee  they  look  when  stars  in  splendor  shine, 
Or  while  around  their  crests  the  sunbeams  play; 
Thine  own  coevals,  who  with  thee   remain 
Colossal  genii  of  the  boundless  plain. 
Eternal  Sphinx! 


A   SPIIYNX 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MODERN  EGYPT. 

The  first  article  on  Egypt  might  have  been  begun  with  an  account 
of  our  stay  in  quarantine,  but  as  this  precaution  against  the  spread  of 
Asiatic  disease  is  of  modern  origin,  I  thought  it  best  to  speak  of  it  in 
this  article.  The  P.  and  0.  steamer,  Persia,  which  brought  us  from 
Bombay  to  Egypt,  was  suspected  of  having  four  cases  of  plague  on 
board.  One  man  having  died  and  been  buried  at  sea  just  before  we 
reached  Suez,  and  three  more  being  ill,  the  international  health  board 
insisted  on  taking  charge  of  the  ten  passengers  bound  for  Egypt.  We 
were  taken  on  board  a  barge  and  towed  a  couple  of  miles  up  the  Suez 
canal  to  the  quarantine  station,  which  we  reached  about  midnight. 
Besides  the  four  in  our  family,  there  were  three  Americans  from  Ohio, 
two  English  merchants  from  Egypt  and  an  English  lady  engaged  in 
missionary  work  in  Palestine.  We  were  comfortably  housed  in  one- 
storv  brick  building  and  were  informed  that  we  would  have  to  remain 
there  five  days,  unless  further  investigation  removed  the  suspicion  of 
the  plague.  While  the  members  of  the  company  proved  to  be  very 
congenial,  we  were  all  anxious  to  have  the  stay  shortened  as  much 
as  possible  on  account  of  its  interference  with  our  plans.  At  the  end 
of  two  days  we  were  notified  that  a  bubonic  germ  had  been  discovered 
and  that  we  must  stay  the  full  time.  The  quarantine  station  is  sit- 
uated on  the  bank  of  the  canal  and  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by 
as  barren  a  desert  as  can  be  found.  The  buildings  are  enclosed  by  a 
double  fence,  and  the  only  exit  is  to  the  wharf  through  a  lane.  We 
were  permitted  to  go  to  the  wharf,  and,  under  the  escort  of  a  guard, 
were  allowed  to  gather  shells  on  the  bank  of  the  canal.  Thus  occupied, 
when  not  reading  or  writing,  the  days  passed  much,  more  pleasantly 
than  we  had  expected,  and  we  were  almost  sorry  when  the  time  came 
for  us  to  separate.  One  day  our  quarters  were  visited  by  a  sirocco,  and 
from  the  dust  and  sand  that  filled  the  air  until  the  sun  was  darkened, 
we  were  able  to  gain  some  idea  of  desert  life. 

The  canal  itself  is  a  little  disappointing.  It  is  simply  a  huge  ditch. 
and  with  an  expanse  of  sand  on  either  bank,  seems  narrower  than  it 
is.  The  sides  are  not  walled  as  a  rule,  and  the  depth — thirty  feet — 
does  not  reveal  itself.     Several  dredges  are  constantly  at  work  remov- 

321 


322 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


ing  the  sand  which  drifts  in  with  the  wind  or  is  washed  in  by  the  tide. 
The  canal  is  .-aid  to  follow  the  route  laid  out  more  than  three  thou- 
sand years  ago  by  Rameses  II.  About  thirty-five  hundred  ships  pass 
through  the  canal  each  year,  an  average  of  nearly  ten  a  day.    Some- 


CLIMBING   THE   PYRAMIDS. 


what  more  than  that  passed  during  our  stay,  some  of  the  ships  being 
loaded  with  Russian  soldiers  from  Japan  and  others  crowded  with 
pilgrims  returning  from  Mecca. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  fifth  day  the  head  physician  came  out  and 


MODERN  EGYPT 


323 


released  us  and  at  the  same  time  conveyed  to  us  the  cheering,  bul 

somewhat  belated,  information  that  the  three  men  taken  from  th< 
ship  did  Dot  have  the  plague;  we  had,  however,  been  so  courteously 
treated  that  we  did  not  complain  of  the  board  bills  or  quarantine  fees, 
even  though  the  detention  proved  to  be  unnecessary.  The  spread  of 
the  plague  through  Europe  would  be  such  a  calamity  that  we  realize 
it  is  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  over-eant ion.  At  any  rate,  we  have 
added  to  our  experience  and  are  carrying  the  yellow  flag  (the  quaran- 
tine signal)    home  as  a  trophy. 

A  few  hours'  ride  brought  us  to  Cairo,  the  metropolis  and  capital 
of  Egypt.      It    is   not   an   ancient    city,   as   they   count    time   in    Egypt, 


THE  OSTRICH    FARM    NEAR  CAIRO. 

having  been  founded  about  a  thousand  years  ago.  but  it  has  in  the 
business  portion  the  appearance  of  a  European  city  and  contain-  a 
population  of  more  than  half  a  million.  Of  its  inhabitant-  thirty-five 
thousand  are  European,  the  Greek-  leading  with  about  ten  thousand, 
and  the  Italian-.  French,  English,  A.ustrians  and  Germans  following 
in  the  order  named.  The  British  would  outnumber  the  French  if  the 
garrison  were  included,  but  the  city  reminds  one  much  more  of  .France 
than  of  England.  Many  of  the  buildings  recall  the  streets  of  Paris, 
and  the  sidewalks  adjacent  to  restaurants  and  saloons  are  filled  with 
tables  and  chairs,  as  in  continental  Europe. 


324 


THE   OLD   WORLD    AND    ITS   WAYS 


Cairo  is  a  city  of  mosques  and  minarets,  as  one  quickly  discovers 
when  he  takes  a  bird's  eye  view  of  the  city  from  the  citadel  which 
stands  upon  an  eminence  in  the  suburbs.  While  the  main  streets 
are  suggestive  of  Europe,  the  native  quarters  and  bazaars  are  dis- 
tinctly Oriental,  many  of  the  streets  being  too  narrow  for  a  carriage. 
The  shop-  are  for  the  most  part  little  open  booths,  and  each  line  of 
business  has  its  particular  section.  On  one  street  silver  and  gold 
smiths  monopolize  the  space;  another  street  is  gay  wTith  red  shoes; 


EGYPTIAN  LADIES. 


in  another  the  red  fez,  the  universal  hat,  is  conspicuous;  and- still  an- 
other is  given  over  to  vegetables.  Some  of  the  larger  stores  handle 
Persian  rugs,  silks,  brass  ware,  inlaid  work  and  patchwork,  reproduc- 
ing the  drawings  found  on  tombs  and  temples.  The  bazaars  also 
abound  in  interesting  reminders  of  the  land  of  the  mummy,  the 
pyramid  and  the  sphinx. 

We  had  not  been  in  Cairo  long  before  we  visited  the  banks  of  the 


MODERN  EGYPT 


325 


Nile,  that  wonderful  river  without  whose  fructifying  waters  there 
would  have  been  no  Egypt.  It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable — in  some 
respects  the  most  remarkable — of  all  the  rivers  of  the  earth.  No  won- 
der the  ancient  Egyptians  included  a  Nile  god  among  their  deities, 
for  next  to  the  sun,  to  which  they  raised  their  obelisks,  nothing  was 
so  necessary  to  their  existence  as  this  almost  magic  stream.  The  Nile 
renders  fertile  two  narrow  strips,  one  on  either  bank,  four  thousand 
miles  long,  and  but  a  few  miles  wide.  For  thirteen  hundred  miles 
it  floats  through  a  desert  and  receives  but  a  single  tributary  in  that 
distance,  and  yet,  after  supplying  irrigation  for  the  crops  of  some  ten 
millions  of  people,  it  pours  into  the  ocean  u  scarcely  diminished 
stream.  The  annual  rise  of  the  river  not  only  supplies  water  but  it 
renews  the  land  by 'deposits  of  alluvial  soil.     Someone  has  described 


AN  EGYPTIAN   MERCHANT 


the  Nile  valley  as  appearing,  if  seen  from  above,  like  a  strip  of  green 
carpet  on  a  floor  of  gold,  so  yellow  are  the  sands  that  hem  it  in.  No 
one  who  has  not  visited  an  arid  country  and  noted  the  influence  of 
water  upon  the  thirsty  soil  can  imagine  how  distinctly  the  line  is 
drawn  between  the  verdant  field  and  the  barren  desert  that  adjoins  it. 
Where  the  waters  of  the  Nile  can  be  brought  upon  the  land,  a  farm  will 
rent  for  $30  per  acre,  while  a  few  feet  away  the  land  can  not  be  given 
away.  Lord  Cromer,  in  a  recent  report,  gives  the  income  and  expen- 
diture of  a  number  of  the  fellaheen,  or  farmers.  The  statements 
show  that  a  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  cotton  is  sometimes  produced 
from  a  single  acre,  or  about  thirty  dollars'  worth  of  corn.  The  average 
income,  taking  all  crops  together,  often  runs  as  high  as  $50  per  acre. 


326  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

An  increasing  quantity  of  land  is  being  brought  under  the  canals, 
but  irrigation  from  wells  is  still  the  main  reliance  of  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  people.  Water  can  be  found  at  the  level  of  the  water  in 
the  river,  and  the  landscape  is  dotted  over  with  old-fashioned  well 
sweeps  and  with  water  wheels,  where  blindfolded  camels  or  oxen  tread 
their  patient  round.  The  land  produces  so  abundantly  and  there  is 
such  a  variety. of  garden  and  farm  products  that  one  recalls  that  pas- 
sage in  the  Bible  in  which  the  children  of  Israel  are  described  as  long- 
ing for  "the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt."  Coming  from  India  to  Egypt  we 
could  not  but  notice  the  difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  people. 
In  the  former  country  they  looked  so  emaciated  and  hungry;  in  the 
latter  they  are  strong  and  robust  and  seemingly  well  fed.  In  the 
markets,  too,  the  food  is  heaped  up  in  big  baskets,  wThile  in  India  it 
is  exposed  for  sale  in  tiny  piles  that  speak  only  too  plainly  of  the 
poverty  of  the  people. 

For  ages  upon  ages  the  fellaheen  have  drawn  from  the  inexhaustible 
storehouse  of  the  Nile.  Cheops,  Khephren  and  their  successors  built 
pyramids,  and  the  fellah  fed  the  builders;  Thutmosis  and  Sethos  and 
their  descendants  constructed  tombs  and  temples,  and  the  fellah  sup- 
ported the  laborers;  the  Rameses  added  gigantic  statues  to  the  stu- 
pendous works  of  their  ancestors  and  the  fellah  still  furnished  food; 
the  Persians  overran  the  country  and  still  the  hand  of  the  fellah  sup- 
plied the  necessaries  of  life;  then  came  Alexander  the  Great  and  the 
Ptolemies,  Csesar,  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  and  the  fellah  plowed  on; 
after  the  Roman  came  the  Arab,  and  after  the  Arab  the  Turk,  fol- 
lowed by  Napoleon  and  later  by  the  Briton,  but  through  all  this  change 
of  dynasties  the  fellah  kept  "the  noiseless  tenor  of  his  way,"  and  as  a 
middle  man,  handed  over  the  bounties  of  the  Nile  valley  to  the  rulers 
and  their  armies — and  he  is  doing  so  to-day.  Of  the  eleven  hundred 
thousand  land  owners,  nearly  nine  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  hold 
less  than  five  acres  each,  and  almost  half  of  the  total  acreage  is  owned 
by  twelve  thousand  three  hundred  persons.  More  than  one-tenth  of 
the  tillable  land  is  owned  by  sixteen  hundred  Europeans. 

Very  few  horses  are  seen  in  the  country,  the  beasts  of  burden  being 
the  ox  (there  are  a  few  water  buffaloes  also),  the  donkey  and  the 
camel.  The  ox  resembles  the  American  rather  than  the  Indian  ox,  in 
that  it  has  no  hump  on  its  shoulders  and  the  drawings  on  some  of  the 
wall-  represent  cattle  with  horns  as  large  as  those  formerly  worn  by 
the  Texas  steer.  The  donkey — poor,  patient  creature — has  not  changed 
materially  in  the  last  four  thousand  years.  The  pictures  drawn  of 
him  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  show  him  just  as  he  is  now.  Then,  as 
now,  a  large  part  of  his  nourishment  went  to  the  development  of  his 


MODERN    EGYPT  327 

vocal  organs  and  left  the  rest  of  his  body  woefully  small  for  the  large 
burdens  which  he  was  called  upon  to  carry.  If  his  disposition  was  as 
gloomy  in  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs  as  it  is  at  present,  he  probably 
annoyed  them  when  he  lifted  up  his  voice  and  wept,  as  he  now  annoys 
the  tourist. 

The  camel,  however,  if  the  test  is  special  fitness  for  the  country, 
is  the  kino-  of  beasts.  He  pulls  the  plow,  turns  the  water  wheel,  draws 
the  wagon,  carries  burdens,  and  for  long  distance  travel  outstrips  the 
horse.  Equipped  with  emergency  water  tanks,  ho  can  go  for  several 
days  without  drinking,  and  for  this  reason  is  of  inestimable  value  on 
desert  journeys.  He  kneels  to  receive  his  load,  though  sometimes 
with  pathetic  groans,  and  is  as  docile  as  the  horse.  He  has  sometime* 
been  styled  "the  ship  of  the  desert"  and  seems  to  have  been  fashioned 
for  this  peculiar  region.  His  large,  padded  feet  do  not  add  to  his 
beauty,  but  they  enable  him  to  cross  sandy  plains  into  which  a  horse's 
hoof  would  sink. 

The  Bible  says  that  the  plague  of  flies  brought  upon  Egypt,  when 
Moses  was  endeavoring  to  secure  the  release  of  the  Israelites,  was  re- 
moved when  Pharaoh  promised  to  let  the  people  go,  but  one  is  inclined 
to  think  that  they  afterwards  returned  when  Pharaoh  again  hardened 
his  heart,  for  nowhere  have  we  found  flies  like  those  of  Egypt.  They 
bite  with  unusual  vigor  and  are  very  persistent  in  their  attentions.  At 
first  we  thought  it  strange  that  people  should  carry  horse-hair  brushes 
as  a  protection  against  the  flies,  but  we  wTere  soon  driven  to  follow 
their  example.  These  flies  seem  to  be  especially  attracted  to  the  eyes 
of  children.  As  these  flies,  like  those  in  other  countries,  carry  disease, 
it  is  not  strange  that  sore  eyes  should  be  especially  prevalent  here. 
Blindness  seems  to  be  more  common  than  elsewhere,  and  a  very  con- 
siderable percentage  of  the  people  have  lost  one  eye.  So  widespread 
is  this  affliction  that  Sir  Ernest  Cassel  has  established  a  fund  of  forty 
thousand  pounds,  the  interest  on  which  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases  of  the  eye.  Already  the  fruits  of  this  beneficence  are 
being  enjoyed  by  the  poor.  The  Mohammedan  women  in  Egypt  wear 
veils — a  custom  which  is  but  slowly  giving  way  to  western  ideas.  If 
the  eyes  of  the  children  were  protected  with  half  as  much  care  as  the 
faces  of  the  women,  what  benefits  would  result ! 

The  government  of  Egypt  defies  definition.  Nominally  the  Khedive 
is  the  supreme  authority,  aided  by  a  native  legislative  council  and  as- 
sembly (their  business  is  to  advise,  however,  rather  than  to  legislate N- 
but  back  of  the  Khedive  is  Lord  Cromer,  the  agent  and  consul-general 
of  England,  whose  power  is  undefined  and  almost  unlimited.  Eng- 
land's authority  in  Egypt  rests  upon  the  articles  of  capitulation  signed 


328 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


after  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria,  in  1882.  In  these  articles  it 
was  announced  that  England's  occupancy  would  be  of  brief  duration, 
but  in  1904  she  secured  from  France,  Germany,  Austria-Hungary  and 
Italy  consent  to  postpone  the  fixing  of  a  date  for  her  withdrawal,  she  at 
the  same  time  announcing  that  it  was  not  her  intention  to  interfere 
with  the  political  situation  in  Egypt.  England's  reasons  for  remaining 
in  Egypt  are  very  clearly  stated  by  Lord  Milner  in  his  book  entitled 
"England  in  Egypt."  He  says:  "On  the  one  hand,  our  commercial 
interests  in  Egypt  are  so  great  and  growing  that  her  prosperity,  which 
would  be  immediately  wrecked  by  misgovernment,  is  a  matter  of  con- 
cern to  us.  Secondly,  and  chiefly,  the  geographical  position  of  Egypt 
compels  attention  to  her  political  condition.  AVe  have  nothing  to 
gain  by  owning  the  country  ourselves,  but  we  should  have  a  great 
deal  to  fear  from  its  falling  into  the  possession  of  another  power." 

England's  interests  in 
Egypt  are  numerous.  She 
takes  most  of  the  exports 
of  Egypt  and  sells  more 
than  any  other  country  to 
Egypt.  In  the  last  report 
of  Lord  Cromer  it  is  shown 
that  Great  Britain  has  the 
benefit  of  considerably 
more  than  half  of  the  con- 
tracts (above  five  thou- 
sand dollars)  entered  into 
1  y  the  Egyptian  railways 
for  supplies.  Then,  Eng- 
land's citizens  own  land  in 
Egypt,  and  they  are  also 
interested  in  the  Egyptian 
debt,  which,  by  the  way, 
amounts  to  about  five  hun- 
dred million  dollars  or,  ap- 
proximately, one  hundred 
dollars  per  acre  of  the  til- 
lable land. 

The   irrigation    -chemes 
now  developing  will   require  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  on  con- 
traet  and  these  will  give  opportunities  for  English  capital. 

The  3econd   reason   given  by  Lord  Milner  is  emphasized  by  him, 
«ind  is  probably  the  paramount  one,  viz.,  that  she  can  not  afford  to 


KIIEDIVE   OF    EGYPT. 


MODERN    EGYI'T 


3'J!) 


have  the  valley  of  the  Nile  held  by  a  rival  power.  Her  interests  in 
the  Soudan  and  in  India  lead  her  to  guard  the  Suez  canal  with  jealous 
care.  Lord  Milner  suggests  as  a  reason  why  England  should  remain 
in  Egypt  that  her  withdrawal  might  be  followed  by  such  an  abuse  of 
government  as  to  lead  to  bankruptcy  and  French  intervention.  The 
old  argument  "if  we  don't  do  it  somebody  else  will*'  is  presented  as 
the  strongest  support  of  British  interference. 

English  influence,  however,  has  been  less  harmful  in  Egypl  than 
in  India,  and  this  is  probably  due,  in  the  main,  to  two  causes:  First, 
her  influence  is  exerted  through  a  native  government  whose  authority 


REUNION    ON    THE   DESERT. 


she  acknowledges;  and  second,  because  the  interests,  which  other  na- 
tions have  in  Egypt,  make  them  oppose  any  encroachments  on  the 
part  of  England,  while  in  India  she  has  a  free  hand  As  an  illustra- 
tion I  might  cite  the  fact  that  she  compels  the  Indian  to  support 
the  Indian  army,  while  she  pays  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  three 
thousand  British  soldiers  in  Egypt  and  only  asks  Egypt  to  pay  for  the 
extraordinary  expenses.  It  is  no  reflection  upon  England  to  say  that 
she  is  better  for  being  watched.  We  believe  that  in  regard  to  our  own 
public  men,  and  it  is  simply  a  recognition  of  the  frailty  of  human 
nature.     Lord  Cromer  has  been  in  Egypt  for  twenty-six  years,  and 


330  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

his  reports  indicate  a  desire  to  advance  the  welfare  of  the  people  of 
Egypt.  He  has  doubtless  been  helpful  to  the  Khedive.  He  has 
insisted  upon  honesty  in  the  public  service  and  has  been  a  friend  of 
i  ducation.  "While  the  national  debt  contains  a  large  amount  of  usurious 
interest  and  is,  therefore,  much  heavier  than  it  ought  to  be,  it  has 
been  funded  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest  and  is  being  gradually  paid 
off.  The  debts  that  are  being  incurred  for  the  extension  of  irriga- 
i  will  be  more  than  redeemed  by  the  sale  of  the  land  reclaimed,  and 
the  country  will  then  have  the  benefit,  not  only  of  the  reclaimed 
land  but  of  the  increased  value  of  lands  indirectly  benefited.  Al- 
though the  salt  tax  (contrary  to  Lord  Cromer's  advice)  is  still  over 
two  hundred  per  cent,  the  per  capita  rate  of  taxation  has  been  reduced; 
agricultural  and  postal  banks  have  been  established,  and  the  govern- 
ment railway,  telegraph  and  telephone  systems  have  been  extended. 
In  his  1903  report,  Lord  Cromer  presents  an  argument  in  favor  of 
government  roads  as  against  roads  owned  privately. 

The  great  danger  that  Egypt  has  to  fear  is  the  disinheritance  of 
the  fellaheen  and  the  alien  ownership  of  the  land.  LTnless  great  care  is 
taken  Egypt  will  drift  into  the  condition  of  Ireland  and  India,  and  be 
drained  of  her  resources  by  foreign  landlords.  It  is  very  difficult 
for  a  foreign  representative  to  arbitrate  impartially  between  his  own 
people  at  home  and  the  natives  among  whom  he  temporarily  resides, 
and  Lord  Cromer  will  deserve  great  credit  if  he  is  able  to  protect  the 
Egyptians  from  exploitation.  However  well  meaning  the  English 
advisers  are  now,  or  hereafter  may  be,  Egypt's  safety  must  lie  in  the 
development  of  her  own  people.  The  legislative  council  understands 
this  and  insists  upon  the  extension  of  the  school  system.  It  is  wise  in 
so  doing,  for  every  educated  man  or  woman  adds  to  the  moral  force 
that  restrains  and  directs  the  government.  An  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  the  educated  not  only  tends  to  the  preservation  of  law  and  order. 
but  furnishes  a  larger  number  fit  to  be  officials  and  thus  lessens  the 
excuse  for  the  employment  of  foreigners.  There  has  been,  among  re- 
former.-.  some  discussion  of  a  constitution,  but  as  that  would  curtail  the 
j  lowers  of  the  Khedive  as  well  as  define  the  authority  of  England,  it 
would  probably  be  opposed  at  present  by  the  Moslem  leaders. 

I  can  not  conclude  without  reference  to  the  pioneer  work  done  in 
the  field  of  education  by  the  United  Presbyterians.  They  have  several 
churches  and  a  number  of  very  successful  schools  and  must  be  cred- 
ited with  having  contributed  largely  to  the  progress  which  Egypt  has 
made  and  is  making. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

AMONG  THE  LEBANONS. 

Before  writing  of  the  Holy  Land,  I  shall  devote  an  article  to  the 
week  which  we  spent  among  the  Lebanons.  While  the  trip  from  Bey- 
rout  to  Baalbek  and  Damascus   is  included  in  the  advertisement   of 

Palestine  tours,  the  places  visited  are  not  so  intimately  connected  with 
Bible  history  as  those  of  Judea  and  Galilee. 

Beyrout,  the  seaport  for  this  section  of  Syria,  has  the  best  harbor 
to  be  found  on  the  east  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  city  is 
naturally  a  place  of  considerable  size  and  importance.  The  popula- 
tion is  estimated  at  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  the 
residence  portion  covers  the  foothills  of  the  Lebanon  range.  The 
principal  industry  is  the  production  of  raw  silk,  the  mulberry  groves 
extending  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

The  road  from  Beyrout  to  Baalbek  climbs  over  the  Lebanon  range, 
reaching  in  one  place  an  altitude  of  about  six  thousand  feet.  The 
view  is  one  of  rare  beauty — the  winding  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
the  terraced  mountain  sides  and  the  snow  clad  peaks  combining  to  form 
an  impressive  picture.  The  far-famed  cedars  of  Lebanon,  some  of 
them  sixteen  feet  in  diameter,  still  crown  the  higher  summits,  but 
few  of  them  are  visible  from  the  train.  A  well  built  carriage  road  fol- 
lows the  same  general  course  as  the  railroad,  but  the  latter  now  mo- 
nopolizes the  traffic.  The  main  line  of  the  railroad  runs  to  Damas- 
cus, but  in  the  Beka,  as  the  valley  of  the  Leontes  is  called  at  this  point. 
a  branch  has  been  built  to  Baalbek,  where  a  wonderful  temple  once 
stood. 

The  city  of  Baalbek  was  founded  so  long  ago  that  history  does  not 
record  its  beginning.  Arab  tradition  peoples  this  district  with  the 
earliest  of  the  Bible  characters.  The  tower  of  Babel  has  been  located 
at  Baalbek  by  one  tradition,  while  another  has  Cain  building  a  fortress 
there  as  a  refuge.  It  is  certain  that  the  city  ranks  among  the  oldest 
known  to  history,  the  location  being  probably  determined  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  very  large  spring  whose  waters  would  supply  a  great  popu- 
lation. The  name  of  the  city  (but  a  few  thousand  inhabitants  are  to 
be  found  there  now)  indicates  that  it  was  the  center  of  Baal,  or  sun, 
worship.     It  is  believed  by  those  who  have  made  research  that  an 

331 


332 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


ancient  temple,  built  by  the  Egyptians  or  Phoenicians,  occupied  the 
ground  now  covered  by  the  ruins  of  a  later  temple  built  by  the 
Romans.  It  is  this  latter  temple  which  has  drawn  tourists  from  all 
over  the  world.  It  was  begun  during  the  first  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  and  the  work  upon  it  continued  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years.  It  was  dedicated  to  Jupiter  and  the  Sun,  the  worship  of  these 
two  deities  being  combined.     The  Romans  even  adopted  the  Greek 


TEMPLE  AT   BAALBEK 


name,  Heliopolis,  for  the  city,  but  the  Arabic  designation,  Baalbek, 
has  survived. 

This  great  temple  was  laid  out  upon  an  immense  scale.  First  a  hill 
was  built,  filled  with  subterranean  chambers,  and  upon  the  massive 
walls  which  separated  these  chambers  the  superstructure  was  reared. 
The  temple  was  approached  by  a  staircase  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 


AMONG    THE    LEBANONS  333 

wide  and  entered  through  a  hexagonal  courj  two  hundred  feet  in 
diameter.  Next  came  the  great  court,  nearly  lour  hundred  feel  square, 
with  an  altar  in  the  center.  Both  of  these  courts  were  open,  but  had 
broad  colonnades  around  the  sides  supported  by  granite  pillar-  broughl 
from  the  upper  Nile.  These  colonnades  were  ornamented  with  carv- 
ings and  contained  two  rows  of  niches,  three  hundred  and  thirty  alto- 
gether, formerly  occupied  by  images.  Our  guide,  Mr.  Alouf,  whose 
pamphlet  on  Baalbek  gives  the  results  of  his  fifteen  years'  study  of 
the  ruins,  insists  that  the  great  court  was  really  a  pantheon  and  con- 
tained all  of  the  gods  at  that  time  worshiped  by  the  conquerors  and 
by  the  native  population. 

The  temple  of  Jupiter  must  have  been  a  most  impressive  building. 
It  stood  twenty-six  feet  above  the  courts  and  therefore  about  fifty  feet 
above  the  natural  level  of  the  ground  around.  It  measured  three  hun- 
dred and  ten  feet  in  length  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  in  breadth. 
Its  outer  Avail  supported  fifty-four  columns  of  Corinthian  style,  each 
column  being  seventy  feet  in  height,  seven  feet  in  diameter  and  com- 
posed of  three  pieces.  Six  of  these  columns  are  still  standing,  having 
survived  three  earthquakes  and  one  mountain  torrent.  The  six  col- 
umns with  the  capitals  and  cornice  give  some  idea  of  the  magnificence 
of  the  temple  before  its  decay.  The  stone  used  is  taken  from  a  lime- 
stone quarry  near  the  city,  and  the  carving  is  excellent.  Enormous 
masses  of  stone  lie  scattered  over  the  ground — parts  of  pillars,  pieces  of 
cornice,  and  sections  of  the  pediment.  How  these  huge  blocks  were 
ever  lifted  into  place  is  still  a  matter  of  conjecture.  No  mortar  was 
used,  and  yet  in  some  places  the  joints  are  so  nicely  fitted  and  the 
stone  so  accurately  cut  that  a  knife  blade  can  not  be  inserted  after  a 
lapse  of  nearly  twenty  centuries. 

Stupendous  as  is  the  plan  of  this  wonderful  temple  and  elaborate  as 
is  its  ornamentation,  the  most  remarkable  feature  is  the  >ize  of  the 
stones  employed.  The  guide  first  shows  a  number  of  blocks  about 
thirty-three  feet  long,  fourteen  feet  high  and  ten  feet  thick.  After  one's 
wonder  has  had  sufficient  time  to  express  itself,  three  blocks  are  (Minted 
out  which  measure  sixty-four  feet  in  length,  fourteen  feet  in  height  and 
twelve  feet  in  thickness.  The  estimated  weight  of  one  of  these  stones  is 
nearly  one  thousand  tons,  and  it  is  calculated  that  it  would  require  ben 
thousand  horse  power  to  lift  it.  At  the  quarry  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  away  a  companion  block,  seventy-two  feet  long  and  about  fifteen 
feet  in  height  and  thickness  is  to  be  seen,  chiseled  from  the  stone  about 
it,  but  not  entirely  separated  from  the  stratum  beneath  it.  This  was 
probably  intended  for  the  sustaining  wall  around  the  temple.  Whether 
it  remained  at  the  quarry  because  the  work  was  interrupted,  or  because 


334 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


the  builders  despaired  of  being  able  to  move  it,  is  a  secret  which  the 
living  are  not  able  to  reveal.  After  the  decline  of  paganism  the  Chris- 
tians built  a  church  in  the  great  court,  using  the  stones  and  pillars  for 
the  walls.  Then  came  the  Mohammedans  and  turned  the  courts  and 
temple  into  a  fortress,  making  use  of  the  walls  of  the  church. 

A  little  way  distant  from  the  great  temple  is  a  smaller  temple  dedi- 
cated  to  Bacchus,  which  would  of  itself  be  sufficient  to  distinguish  a  city, 
but  for  its  more  famous  rival.  This  temple  is  about  two  hundred  and 
twentyrfive  feet  long  by  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  wide,  and  a  row  of 
fifty  columns,  of  which  fourteen  are  fluted,  surround  it.  These  columns 
are  sixty  feet  in  height  and  about  six  feet  in  diameter.    While  smaller 


THE  GIANT  STONE  AT  BAALBEK. 

in  its  dimensions  this  temple  is  even  more  elaborately  carved  than  the 
larger  one.  Some  of  the  clusters  of  grapes  are  less  than  two  inches  in 
length  but  exquisitely  wrought.  This  temple  is  in  a  much  better  state 
of  ] (reservation  than  the  great  temple  and  is  therefore  in  some  respects 
even  more  interesting. 

Emperor  William  of  Germany  visited  Baalbek  in  1898  and  was  so 
impressed  by  the  ruins  that  he  obtained  permission  from  the  sultan  to 
clear  away  the  debris,  and  the  traveling  world  is  under  obligations  to 
him  for  having  made  it  possible  to  inspect  the  foundations  and  the 
ground  plan.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  added  that  Emperor  Wil- 
liam .-(•(•ins  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  this  part  of  Asia.  He  visited  Jeru- 
salem  to  lav  the  corner  stone  of  the  German  church;  he  sent  to  Damas- 


A.MONG    THE    LEBANON.S  335 

cus  a  beautiful  bronze  wreath  to  adorn  the  tomb  of  the  greal  Moham- 
medan general,  Saladin,  and  he  has  encouraged  the  establishment  of 
German  colonies  in  Palestine.  There  are  German  settlements  of  con- 
siderable size  at  Jerusalem,  Joppa,  and  Haifa.  At  four  places  we  found 
German  hotels,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  they  arc  kept  with  the 
excellence  characteristic  of  the  race. 

The  friendship  which  the  emperor  has  shown  for  the  sultan  seems  to 
be  reciprocated,  for  roads  were  built,  harbors  improved  and  many  other 
things  done  in  honor  of  his  visit.  We  have  heard  all  sorts  of  rumors  as 
to  the  kaiser's  intentions,  but  the  only  thing  thai  seems  certain  is  thai 
German  influence  in  this  part  of  Asia  is  increasing. 

While  Baalbek  contains  the  largest  and  most  famous  ruins,  it  i<  nol 
the  only  place  that  attracts  the  archaeologist.  There  are  hundreds  of 
sites  of  ancient  cities  which  abundantly  repay  the  excavator.  Speci- 
mens of  Greek  and  Roman  art  have  been  found  on  both  sides  of  the 
Jordan  as  well  as  along  the  Mediterranean  coast.  The  tombs  also  have 
yielded  up  their  treasures  and  the  museums  of  the  world  have  been  sup- 
plied with  tear  bottles,  perfumery  jars,  vases,  bowls,  scarabs,  ancient 
coins,  etc. 

The  Phoenicians  are  credited  with  having  invented  the  making  of 
glass  in  the  days  when  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  their  chief  cities.  It  is  said 
that  the  art  owes  its  discovery  to  the  use  of  saltpeter  in  the  place  of 
stones  by  some  sailors  who  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Belos,  near 
Akka.  Finding  no  stones  upon  which  to  put  their  kettles,  they  used 
blocks  of  saltpeter  and  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  fire  had  fused  the 
sand  and  saltpeter  into  a  transparent  substance.  The  industry  was  in- 
augurated at  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  for  some  time  the  Phoenicians  sup- 
plied the  world  with  glass.  The  bottles  and  vases  found  from  time  to 
time  in  the  tombs  of  Syria  and  Egypt  are  more  beautiful  than  when 
they  left  the  hand  of  the  manufacturer;  the  outer  surface  has  decayed, 
and  beneath  are  revealed  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  It  was  the  custom 
to  fill  the  iear  bottles  with  tears  of  the  mourners  and  to  bury  them  with 
the  dead. 

The  scarab,  which  is  found  so  often  in  the  ancient  tombs  in  Syria 
and  in  Egypt,  is  the  old  fashioned  tumble-bug  or  dung  beetle  with 
which  every  boy,  or  at  least  every  country  or  village  boy,  is  familiar.  I 
little  thought,  when  I  used  to  see  the  tumble-bug  rolling  his  little  globe 
of  manure  along  the  dusty  road,  that  he  was  considered  a  sacred  insect 
several  thousand  years  ago  or  that  he  was  ever  used  as  a  symbol  of  the 
Creator;  and  yet  his  likeness  adorns  temples  and  tombs  while  his  image, 
cut  in  stone  and  bearing  the  seal  of  rulers,  has  been  found  by  the 
thousands.   Often  the  heart  of  a  dead  person  was  removed  and  a  scarab 


THE  OLD  WORLD  AND  ITS  WAYS 


inserted  in  its  place.  The  scarab,  rolling  its  ball,  typified  to  the  ancient 
an  unseen  power  guiding  the  sun  while  the  bursting  of  the  young  bug 
from  it-  egg  in  the  ball  symbolized  the  resurrection — to  what  classical 

-  this  commonplace  little  insect  was  put! 

Among  those  who  have  been  instrumental  in  bringing  the  hidden 
treasures  of  Syria  to  the  attention  of  the  world,  Mr.  Azeez  Khayat,  a 
native  of  Tyre,  but  now  an  American  citizen,  deserves  special  mention. 


CEDARS  OF  LEBANON 

Many  American  museums  are  indebted  to  him  for  their  collections. 

Speaking  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  reminds  me  that  in  the  study  of  Syria 
and  Palestine,  I  ran  across  an  early  instance  of  monopoly.  Josephus 
accuses  John  of  Gischala  of  monopolizing  the  oil  business  on  the 
Mediterranean  coast.  II  was  early  in  the  Christian  era  that  the  aforesaid 
John,  according  to  Josephus,  convinced  the  Jews  who  dwelt  in  Syria 


AMONG  THE  LEBANONS 


33' 


that  they  were  obliged  to  use  oil  made  by  others,  and  the  historian  adds  : 
"So  he  (John)  bought  four  amphorae  with  such  Syrian  money  as  was 
of  the  value  of  four  Attic  drachmae  and  sold  every  half  amphor  at  the 
same  price;  and  as  Galilee  was  very  fruitful  in  oil  and  was  peculiarly 
so  at  this  time,  by  sending  away  great  quantities  and  having  the  sole 
privilege  so  to  do,  he  gathered  an  immense  sum  of  money  together." 

This  is  interesting  and  instructive  It  shows,  lirst,  that  monopoly  is  an 
ancient  evil  and,  second,  that  the  monopolist  in  his  inclination  to  take 
advantage  of  the  consumer  by  raising  the  price  was  much  the  same  then 
as  now — but  I  have  been  afraid,  ever  since  I  read  of  John  of  Gischala, 
that  some  American  named  John  might  try  to  imitate  him  and  establish 
a  monopoly  in  our  country — possibly  in  oil. 

But  on  to  Damascus. — and  we  reached  it  all  too  soon,  for  the  ride 
across  the  Anti-Lebanon  range  is  also  picturesque.  The  route  down  the 
east  side  of  the  mountain  follows  the  valley  of  the  A  ban  a.  a  splendid 


BEYROUTH SYRIA 

stream,  worthy  of  the  compliment  paid  it  by  Naaman.  It  leaps  from  the 
mountain  side  a  full  grown  river  and  plunges  down  into  the  plain  only 
to  be  lost  in  the  sands,  but  not  until  it  has  brought  verdure  to  many 
square  miles  that  would  otherwise  be  barren.  It  is  easy  to  understand 
why  Damascus  is  among  the  oldest,  if  not  actually  the  oldest,  of  all  the 
cities  still  standing.  It  occupies  the  one  green  spot  in  all  that  section 
and  is  the  outpost  of  the  Mediterranean  coast.  The  Arabian  desert 
stretches  to  the  east  and  southeast  for  hundreds  of  miles,  and  the  cara- 
vans from  Persia  and  Arabia  pass  through  Damascus  on  their  way  to- 
Egypt  even  now,  as  they  did  when  Babylon  and  Ninevah  were  young; 
it  is  also  on  the  road  between  the  great  East  and  Tyre  and  Sidon. 

Damascus  is  an  Oriental  city  and  is  still  innocent  of  the  way.-  of  the 
western  world.  Its  bazaars  give  one  a  glimpse  of  life  as  it  was  before 
Europe  and  America  were  known  to  history.    The  government  is  erect- 


THE  OLD  WOULD  AND  ITS  WAYS 


iiig  public  buildings  according  to  modern  plans;  but  the  covered  streets, 
lined  with  little  booths,  tlie  homes  of  the  people,  the  dress,  the  customs 
and  the  habits  are  the  same  that  they  were  when  Saul  of  Tarsus  wan- 
dered dow  n  the  street  "called  Straight"  in  search  of  the  one  who  was  to 
restore  his  sight.  (This  street  though  straight  as  compared  with  the 
other  streets,  is  hardly  deserving  of  the  name  which  it  still  hears.) 

As  in  Cairo,  the  different  trades  have  different  sections.  The  dealers 
in  sugar  occupy  one  quarter ;  the  silversmiths,  the  candy  manufacturers, 
the  blacksmiths,  the  carpenters — each  class  lias  its  cluster  of  shops.  The 
Arabian  horse  being  the  pride  of  the  Bedouin,  we  were  not  surprised  to 
find  much  attention  paid  to  the  manufacture  of  saddles,  saddle  bag-, 
bridles  and  trappings,  only  they  were  for  the  most  part   made  of  wool 


THE  BIG  TAIL  SHEEP. 


.•mil  cotton  rather  than  of  leather.  Brighl  colors,  tassels,  fringes,  shells 
and  ostrich  feathers  are  employed  in  the  ornamentation  of  the  horse, 
the  donkey  and  the  camel. 

The  candies  of  Damascus  are  good  and  very  cheap,  'and  nuts  of  all 
kind-;  are  to  be  found  in  abundance,  an  excellent  variety  of  walnut 
being  grown  within  the  city  limits.  Naturally  this  city  is  a  market  for 
Persian  rugs  and  large  stocks  are  kept  on  hand.  While  the  people  make 
everything  which  enters  into  the  daily  life  of  the  country,  they  are 
especially  -killed  in  brass,  damascene  ware  and  the  inlaying  of  wood 
with  mother-of-pearl. 

1  Damascus  is  not  especially  noted  for  places  of  historical  interest.   The 


AMONG    THE    LEBANON? 


tourist  Is  shown  the  house  of  Ananias  and  the  window  through  which 
Paul  was  1ft  down  from  the  wall,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  identity 
of  these  places  has  been  really  established.  A  house,  known  as  the  house 
of  Naaman  the  Leper,  is  now  very  appropriately  used  for  a  Leper's  home. 
There  is  no  uncertainty  about  the  river  Abana,  and  another  river  Dear 
Damascus  known  as  Pharpar.  An  ancient  wall  surrounds  the  city,  and 
one  of  the  largest  mosques  in  the  world  occupies  ground  first  dedicated 


DAMASCUS   DOGS. 


to  a  heathen  temple  and  afterward  to  the  church  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, erected  by  Arcadius,  the  son  of  Theodosius. 

The  big-tailed  sheep  described  by  Herodotus  is  to  be  found  on  the 
streets  of  Damascus.  It  is  a  peculiar  breed,  and  the  tail,  which  is  con- 
sidered a  great  delicacy,  is  often  so  heavy  as  to  seem  a  burden  to  the 
sheep.  It  is  broad,  covered  with  wool,  and  sometime-  ends  in  a  curl. 
We  also  saw  here  the  long-eared  goats,  as  curious  looking  in  their  way  as 
ihe  sheep. 


340  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Damascus  dog?  He  is  to  be  found  every- 
where and  has  no  owner.  We  counted  eighteen  in  one  group  and  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  in  one  forenoon's  ride.  They  live  on  charity 
and  fight  whenever  an  opportunity  offers.  It  seems  to  be  against  the  law 
of  the  sultan  to  kill  dogs,  as  one  learns  to  his  regret  after  he  has  heard 
them  barking  at  all  hours  of  the  night.  It  is  superfluous  to  add  that  the 
flea  is  as  common  as  the  dog,  and  as  indifferent  also  to  the  peace  of  the 
stranger. 

A  new  railroad  which  is  now  building  from  Damascus  to  the  south 
will  soon  make  it  possible  to  go  to  Galilee  in  a  few  hours,  but  now  it  is 
more  convenient  to  return  to  Beyrout  and  go  to  Haifa  by  boat.  This  we 
did,  and  having  a  couple  of  days  at  Beyrout  we  learned  something  of 
the  religious  work  done  there. 

In  the  division  of  territory  the  Presbyterians  of  America  were,  in 
1870,  assigned  the  country  around  Beyrout.  The  district  is  divided  into 
the  Beyrout,  Lebanon,  Sidon  and  Tripoli  stations,  and  at  all  of  these 
stations  schools,  as  well  as  churches,  are  being  established.  So  successful 
has  the  work  been  that  the  native  communities  now  contribute  half  a 
dollar  for  every  dollar  sent  from  America.  There  is  also  an  American 
press  at  Beyrout  which  publishes  the  Bible  in  Arabic,  some  eighty  thou- 
sand copies  being  issued  last  year  in  addition  to  religious  tracts  of  va- 
rious kinds.  One  of  the  leaders  in  the  missionary  movement,  Rev.  H.  H. 
Jessup,  has  completed  his  fiftieth  year  of  service  among  the  Syrians. 

The  Syrian  Protestant  college  is  also  located  in  Beyrout ;  it  occupies  a 
beautiful  site  overlooking  the  sea  and  is  in  sight  of  the  highest  peak  of 
the  Lebanons.  While  Christian  in  management,  this  college  is  not  de- 
nominational but  is  under  the  control  of  an  American  board  represent- 
ing a  number  of  churches.  Between  six  and  seven  hundred  young  men 
are  in  attendance,  and  its  graduates  are  scattered  throughout  the  world. 
Within  its  halls  are  to  be  found  Protestants,  Catholics  (both  Greek  and 
Roman),  Armenians,  Jews  and  Mohammedans,  and  its  influences  in 
these  parts  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 

The  present  president  of  the  college,  Dr.  Howard  S.  Bliss,  is  the  wor- 
thy son  of  the  college's  first  president,  Dr.  Daniel  Bliss,  whose  religious 
and  educational  work  in  this  territory  covers  more  than  half  a  century. 
The  elder  Bliss,  now  past  eighty-three,  and  his  wife  are  enjoying  an 
enviable  experience.  Their  active  labors  over,  with  minds  still  alert  and 
with  hearts  still  young,  they  are  spending  the  evening  of  their  lives  near 
the  scenes  of  their  labors  and  among  the  children  and  grandchildren 
who  have  blessed  their  home.  Their  rest  has  been  earned,  and  the  peace 
of  their  latter  years  is  a  merited  reward.  Surely  they  illustrate  the  bless- 
edness of  lives  consecrated  to  a  high  purpose  and  rich  in  noble  service. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  CHRISTIAN'S  MECCA. 

We  were  agreeably  surprised  in  Jerusalem  and  Judca,  but  disap- 
pointed to  learn  how  few  Protestant  Christians  visited  this  city  which 
may  without  impropriety  be  styled  the  Christian's  Mecca.  Possibly 
the  wretched  harbor  at  Joppa — if  harbor  it  can  be  called — may 
frighten  some  away,  for  when  the  weather  is  bad  passengers  are  often 
carried  by,  and  yet  it  does  seem  that  there  should  be  more  than 
four  thousand  a  year  from  the  rich  and  numerous  churches  of  Europe 
and  America.  More  than  ninety  thousand  pilgrims  visit  the  Moham- 
medan Mecca  each  year,  although  the  Mohammedans  are  poor  and  the 
journey  is  difficult.  Port  Said  is  only  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles 
from  Joppa  and  Alexandria  less  than  three  hundred  miles,  and  more 
than  ninety-nine  thousand  persons  disembarked  at  these  ports  last  year. 
Making  a  liberal  allowance  for  Egyptians  returning  from  Europe, 
for  immigrants  from  Europe  to  Egypt,  and  for  invalids  visiting  Cairo 
in  search  of  health,  it  is  still  true  that  many  times  as  many  go  to  the 
Nile  as  travel  to  Jerusalem,  and  of  the  less  than  four  thousand 
tourists  who  visit  the  Holy  City  less  than  one  thousand  continue 
their  journey  to  Nazareth  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  The  number 
which  I  mention  does  not  include  the  Greek  Catholics  or  the  Roman 
Catholics,  but  is  an  outside  estimate  of  the  number  of  Protestant 
Christians.  The  railroads  which  are  building  and  the  carriage  roads 
in  process  of  construction  will  make  travel  easier  and  may  increase 
the  number  in  the  future,  but  it  is  difficult  to  explain  or  to  under- 
stand why  so  many  have  come  near  to,  and  yet  passed  by,  without 
seeing  the  places  made  familiar  to  the  Christian  world  by  the  books 
of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament. 

We  landed  at  Joppa  when  the  weather  was  fair,  but  were  detained 
a  half  day  that  they  might  "de-ratify  the  ship,"  as  the  Turkish  author- 
ities describe  rat-killing  upon  the  ship — a  custom  inaugurated  after 
the  rat  had  been  convicted  of  carrying  bubonic  plague.  Joppa  is  on 
the  edge  of  the  Plain  of  Sharon  and.  as  an  abundance  of  water  can 

341 


342  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

red  at  a  reasonable  depth,  the  city  is  a  garden.  Orange  trees 
thrive  there  and  the  fruit  is  excellent.  Two  places  of  interest  are  shown, 
the  home  of  Tabitha  and  the  house  of  Simon  the  tanner,  the  latter 
immortalized  by  the  vision  which  taught  Peter  the  universality  of 
( Ihrist's  mission. 

The  railroad  to  Jerusalem  crosses  the  valley  of  Sharon  which,  al 
this  season  of  the  year,  is  exceedingly  attractive.  The  crops  are  growing. 
the  fellaheen  are  at  work  in  the  fields  and  everywhere  the  wild  flowers 
bloom.  The  rose  of  Sharon  had  many  rivals,  if  the  plain  looked  in 
olden  times  as  it  does  now.  The  principal  station  on  the  plain  is  Ram- 
leh,  through  which  conquering  armies  marched  for  ages.  From  time 
immemorial  Palestine  has  been  a  prize  of  war.  When  it  was  not  itself 
the  object  of  conquest,  its  occupation  was  necessary  to  the  acquiring 
or  holding  of  other  territory.  The  Persians,  the  Egyptians,  the  Par- 
tisans, the  Scythians,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans  and  the  Turks  have  all 
overrun  this  country — not  to  speak  of  the  numerous  wars  of  the 
Israelites  and  the  expeditions  of  the  Crusaders.  From  Alexander  the 
Great  and  Csesar  to  Napoleon,  no  world-conquering  general  overlooked 
Palestine — and  yet.  out  of  Palestine  came  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

South  of  Sharon  lies  the  plain  of  Philistia.  a  narrow  strip  of  land  be- 
tween the  hills  of  Judea  and  the  sea,  a  small  region,  and  yet  it  supported 
a  people  who  warred  for  centuries  with  the  Children  of  Israel.  It  was  at 
<  raza,  one  of  the  chief  cities  on  this  plain,  that  Samson  pulled  down  the 
pillars  of  the  building  and  died  with  those  who  made  sport  of  him. 

Leaving  the  low  country,  the  railroad  begins  the  ascent  of  the  Judean 
hills  through  the  Wady  es  Suar,  and  as  one  is  carried  up  the  tortuous 
course  of  the  narrow  valley  he  begins  to  understand  why  Jerusalem 
was  considered  a  citadel.  The  hills  rise  to  a  height  of  about  twenty-five 
hundred  feet  and  are  so  inaccessible  that  a  small  number  dwelling 
on  top  could  easily  defend  themselves  against  a  much  larger  force. 
The  narrow  limits  of  Judea  impress  one.  hemmed  in  as  it  is  on  the 
west  by  Philistia,  on  the  south  by  the  desert  and  on  the  east  by  the 
deep  chasm  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Its  history  was  developed  in  a  territory 
scarcely  larger  than  a  Nebraska  county. 

As  we  approached  the  summit  the  vineyards  appeared  and  the  olive 
grove-  became  more  numerous.  Jerusalem  is  beautifully  located.  No 
wonder  its  rebuilding  and  re-peopling  is  the  dream  of  the  devout  Jews, 
many  of  whom  come  from  distant  corners  of  the  earth  to  spend  their 
last  days  within  its  precincts.  The  present  walls  of  the  city  are  only 
a  few  hundred  years  "Id.  but  the  Tower  of  David  is  believed  to  be 
.,  pari  of  the  wall  erected  by  the  great  Hebrew  king. 

Once  within  the  city,  one  i-  surrounded  on  every  baud  by  places  that 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S    MKCCA  343 

.stir  the  tenderest  of  memories.  Even  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  identi- 
fication of  many  of  the  sites  made  sacred  by  the  life  the  sufferings  and 
the  death  of  Christ — even  the  rivalry  between  the  various  Beets  cannot 
prevent  a  feeling  of  reverence.  Here  He  whose  name  is  borne  by  increas- 
ing millions  was  condemned  without  cause,  crowned  with  thorns  and 
qj  last  crucified,  sealing  with  His  blood  the  testimony  of  His  life. 

Early  in  the  fourth  century  Helena,  the  mother  of  Oonstantine,  set 
out  to  identify  the  spots  most  intimately  associated  with  the  Savior's 
life.  She  selected  the  place  where,  as  she  believed,  Christ  was  crucified 
and  buried,  and  her  son  erected  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
to  mark  the  locality.  For  fifteen  centuries  her  designation  was  accepted 
as  the  correct  one,  and  the  Roman  Catholic's,  the  Greek  Catholic-  and 
the  Armenians,  who  divide  the  -pace  in  the  church  between  them,  have 
kept  joint,  though  not  always  harmonious,  watch  over  the  various 
altars  and  chapels.  A  few  years  ago  the  correctness  of  the  location 
of  Calvarv  was  disputed  and  a  hill  over  the-  Grotto  of  Jeremiah  was 
fixed  upon  by  the  dissenters  as  the  place  of  the  crucifixion,  and  a  tomb 
near  by  as  the  sepulchre.  Since  that  time  the  traveler  has  been  shown 
both  places  arid  furnished  with  the  arguments  in  support  of  the  claims 
of  each.  It  is  contended  that  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
though  within  the  present  walls,  stands  upon  land  which  wa.s  outside 
of  the  original  walls,  while  the  new  location  is  outside  of  the  walls  as 
they  are  at  present.  Possibly  future  excavations  may  settle  the  question 
by  determining  the  exact  location  of  the  wall  in  the  time  of  Christ; 
but  what  matter?  The  two  places  are  not  far  apart,  and  the  whole 
vicinity  has  been  hallowed  by  His  presence. 

Pilate's  judgment  hall,  the  Via  Dolorosa  and  Ecce  Homo  arch  are 
marked  by  the  erection  of  a  Catholic  convent  and  school  for  girls 
where  one  finds  a  cleanliness  in  striking  contrast  to  the  streets  outside. 
The  pools  of  Gihon,  of  Siloam,  of  Bethesda  and  Ilezekiah  are  all  given 
a  local  habitation;  the  place  where  Judas  hanged  himself  is  pointed 
out,  as  well  as  the  cave  in  which  Jeremiah  wrote  his  lamentations;  the 
chamber  where  the  Last  Supper  was  observed  is  also  fixed  upon,  and  the 
tombs  of  Rachel.  Absalom  and  of  David.  I  do  not  know  how  much 
credence  should  be  given  to  the  testimony  adduced  in  behalf  of  these 
different  sites,  but  we  are  sure  of  the  identity  of  a  few  places.  Mount 
Zion,  upon  which  David  built  his  palace,  is  known;  Mount  Akra  can 
be  located  and  about  Mount  Moriah  there  can  be  no  mistake.  The, 
great  bare  rock  that  crowns  the  last  named  eminence  is  a  land- 
mark that  has  not  been  and  cannot  be  easily  removed.  It  is  now 
covered  by  a  mosque  but  was  once  the  sacrificial  stone  of  the  Hebrews. 
Solomon'.-  temple  was  built  on  Mount  Moriah.  and  some  of  it-  founda- 


344 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


tion  stones  and  subterranean  chambers  can  still  be  seen.  In  a  street 
that  leads  by  these  foundation  walls  is  the  Jews'  wailing  place  where 
for  many  centuries  devout  Hebrews,  gathered  from  every  country,  have 
met  on  each  Friday  afternoon  to  bemoan  the  fate  of  Jerusalem  and  to 
petition  for  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom.  One  sees  no  more  pathetic 
sight  in  a  trip  around  the  world  than  this  assemblage  of  men  and 
women,  some  gray-haired,  some  in  middle  life  and  many  mere  children, 
chanting  their  laments  and  caressing  the  stones  which  the  hand  of 
Solomon  laid  when  he  was  building  the  temple  which  marked  the 
summit  of  Jewish  political  power. 


MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 


Bethlehem  is  also  identified  and  whether  or  not  the  Ohurch  of  the 
Nativity,  erected  by  the  mother  of  Constantine,  covers  the  spot  where 
Chrisl  was  born,  one  can  look  upon  the  hills  around  about  the  city  and 
recall  that  it  was  here  that  the  message,  "Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to 
men,"  came  to  the  shepherds  who  kept  their  flocks  by  night. 

In  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  by  the  Brook  Kedron,  one  can  tread 
the  .-oil  pressed  by  the  Master's  feet  in  the  hours  of  his  loneliness  and 
agony.  The  Garden  is  now  walled  in  and  carefully  kept,  and  its  old, 
gnarled  and  knotted  olive  trees  shade  the  pansies  which  grow  there  in 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S    MECCA  345 

profusion.  Bethpage  still  stands  and  also  Bethany,  whore  Mary  and 
Martha  and  Lazarus  lived,  and,  most  conspicuous  of  all,  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  the  place  of  the  Ascension.  From  its  summit  the  best  view 
of  Jerusalem  ds  obtained;  from  that  point  also  the  eye  can  sweep  the 
hills  of  both  Judea  and  Samaria  and  to  the  east  look  upon  the  waters 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  thirty-eight  hundred  feet  below. 

Nowhere  else  can  one  walk  amid  scenes  so  familial-  to  the  civilized 
world  as  are  those  of  Judea.  Surrounded  by  paganism  and  idolatry, 
a  little  band  began  here  the  establishment  of  a  monotheistic  religion 
and  notwithstanding  backslidings,  shortcomings  and  wanderings  from 
the  faith,  the  spiritual  side  of  life  was  never  entirely  forgotten;  great 
prophets  thundered  their  warnings  from  these  hills;  great  singers 
poured  forth  their  hymns  of  penitence,  praise  and  thanksgiving;  here 
a  wonderful  literature  was  developed  and  a  history  written  which  was 
stranger  than  fiction;  and  here,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  came  One  who 
was  commissioned  to  substitute  the  law  of  Love  for  the  law  that 
required  "an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." 

In  the  city  of  Jerusalem  there  are  now  some  sixty  thousand  soul.-, 
and  a  composite  population  it  is.  While  about  two-thirds  of  the  people 
are  Jews  and  the  remainder  divided  almost  equally  between  the 
Mohammedans  and  Christians,  one  can  count  representatives  of  a  score 
or  more  of  nations  in  an  hour's  walk.  The  streets  of  Jerusalem  are  nar- 
row and  crooked,  and  one  is  going  up  hill  or  down  hill  all  the  time.  The 
houses,  the  stores,  the  walls,  the  gates  and  the  customs  of  the  people 
seem  more  Oriental  than  European.  There  are  no  street  cars,  no  mod- 
ern bookstores  and  no  newspapers,  excepting  one  printed  in  Hebrew. 

The  carriage  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  winds  around  the 
Mount  of  Olives  and  down  the  eastern  side  of  the  Judean  hills,  past  the 
Apostles'  fountain  and  through  the  wilderness  of  Judea.  This  wilder- 
ness is  not  the  waste  that  we  expected  to  find,  but  merely  a  broken 
and  mountainous  country,  too  stony  to  be  cultivated  and  lit  only  for 
grazing.  At  this  season  of  the  year  the  grass  is  green  and  the  ground 
bright  with  flowers. 

A  little  more  than  half  way  down  the  slope  is  a  rest  station  called, 
in  honor  of  the  parable,  the  Good  Samaritan  Inn.  But  for  the 
mounted  guards  who  now  'patrol  this  road  the  traveler  would  even 
to-day  be  in  danger  of  falling  among  thieves. 

A  little  farther  on,  the  road  leads  near  the  edge  of  a  wild,  deep  and 
rugged  canyon  at  the  bottom  of  which  plunges  the  Brook  Cherith. 
A  Greek  monastery  has  been  built  at  the  place  where  Elijah  found 
refuge  during  the  drought. 

Jericho  is  a  small  village  and  a  half  mile  from  the  site  of  the  ancient 


346 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


city  of  that  name.     It  depends  for  its  support  upon  the  tourists  who 
visit  the  Jordan  valley  rather  than  upon  the  cultivated  area, 

The  Dead  Sea,  forty  miles  long  and  eight  miles  in  width,  covers 
the  deepest  portion  of  this  most  remarkable  of  the  depressions  in 
the  earth's  surface.  The  rent  extends  from  the  base  of  Mount  Hermon 
to  the  eastern  arm  of  the  Red  Sea,  known  as  the  Gulf  of  Akabah.  For 
more  than  one  hundred  miles  this  rent  or  ravine  as  below  the  level  of* 
the  -i vi.  the  surface  of  the  Dead  Sea  being  thirteen  hundred  feet  lower 
than  the  Mediterranean.  As  the  Dead  Sea  is  in  some  places  thirteen 
hundred  feel  deep,  the  greatest  depth  of  the  chasm  is,  therefore,  more 


WAILING    PLACE   OF   THE    JEWS. 

than  twenty-six  hundred  feet.  The  water  of  the  Sea  is  bitter  and  eon- 
lain-  twenty-six  per  cent  of  salt,  or  about  five  times  as  much  as  the 
ocean.  As  we  took  a  bath  in  the  Dead  Sea,  we  can  testify  that  one  cannot 
-ink  in  its  waters. 

The  Jordan  is  neither  as  large  nor  as  clear  as  one  wrould  expect  from 
its  prominence  in  Bible  history.  The  banks  are  slippery,  the  waters  are 
muddy  and  the  current  is  swift.  It  has  much  the  appearance  of  a  creek 
swollen  with  rain.  We  tried  its  waters  also,  but  did  not  venture  far  from 
tie-  shore.  Between  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  rthe  Dead  Sea  the  Jordan 
falls  ab'oul  six  hundred  feet,  or  ten  feet  to  the  mile.    At  present  but 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S    MECCA 


347 


little  use  is  made  of  this  fertile  valley,  but,  in  the  opinion  of  some  who 
have  investigated  the  matter,  it  could,  with  proper  irrigation  and  under 
a  just  government,  lie  made  as  fruitful  as  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  As 
might  be  expected,  the  heat  in  this  deep  basin  is  intense  in  the  summer, 


A   JEWISH  RABBI. 

but  the  hills  are  near  enough  on  each  side  to  provide  homes  for  those 
who  would  cultivate  the  fields. 

Looking  across  the  Jordan  one  sec-  the  Mountains  of  Moat).  While 
the  country  "beyond  the  Jordan"  plays  an  unimportant  part  in  Bible 
history  as  compared  with  Judea,  Samaria  and  Galilee,  -till  it  has  its 


348  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    AVAYS 

Nebo,  where  the  great  Jewish  lawgiver  sleeps  in  an  unmarked  grave; 
it  has  its  Macherus,  where  John  the  Baptist  was  beheaded,  and  its 
( rilead.  Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  came  from  beyond  the  Jordan,  and  beyond 
the  Jordan  Elisha  received  'his  teacher's  mantle;  Ruth  came  from 
the  Land  of  Moab,  and  Job  endured  his  trials  in  the  Land  of  \'/.. 

Space  docs  not  permit  a  reference  to  all  the  places  of  interest  or  an 
elaborate  consideration  of  any  of  them.  It  is  impossible  to  describe 
in  a  few  words  what  it  requires  several  days  to  see.  One  thought  often 
comes  to  the  mind  as  the  different  scenes  are  visited,  viz.,  that  a  visit 
to  the  Holy  Land  makes  it  easier  to  understand  many  Bible  passages 
and  gives  added  significance  to  others.  We  have  seen  the  barren  fig 
tnc  and  the  fruitful  vine;  we  have  seen  the  lame  and  the  blind,  and 
have  met  the  Leper  at -the  gate;  we  have  <ccn  the  tiny  lamp,  such  as  the 
wise  and  foolish  virgins  carried — lamps  that  need  often  to  be  refilled; 
and  we  have  seen  the  "whited  sepulchres/'  "full  of  dead  men's  bones." 
We  have  been  impressed  with  the  life-giving  power  of  a  fountain  in  a 
barren  land  and  can  more  fully  realize  the  force  of  the  promise  that 
the  man  who  dclighteth  "in  the  law  of  the  Lord"  "shall  be  like  a 
tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water." 

But  no  part  of  the  Old  Testament  has  been  brought  more  vividly 
to  our  minds  than  the  twenty-third  Psalm.  Life  is  much  the  same 
ben-  to-day  as  it  was  two,  thiee,  four  thousand  year-  ago.  and  we  have 
seen  innumerable  Hocks  and  have  watched  the  sheep  following  the 
shepherd  with  confidence  as  he,  staff  in  hand,  led  them  into  new 
pastures  or  from  hillside  to  stream.  No  animal  is  more  helpless  than  the 
sheep  and  no  guardian  more  tender  than  the  shepherd.  The  sheep 
know  their  master's  voice,  and  we  have  several  times  seen  a  shepherd 
carrying  a  lamb  in  his  arms.  The  hills  about  Jerusalem,  the  spring-. 
the  shepherds  and  their  flocks,  will  rise  before  us  whenever  we  read 
again : 

"The  Lord  is  my  shepherd;  I  shall  not  want.     He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in 
green  pastures;  He  leadetlj  me  beside  the  still  waters." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

GALILEE. 

The  boat  .schedules — and  they  can  not  be  ignored  on  the  Palestine 
coast — compelled  us  to  reserve  Galilee  for  the  conclusion  of  our  tour. 
and  it  was  an  inappropriate  ending,  tor  while  Jerusalem  was  the  scene 
of  the  crucifixion  and  ascension,  the  greater  part  of  Christ's  life  was 
spent  in  Galilee,  and  it  was  there  that  "most  of  Bis  mighty  work-  were 
done."  Nor  is  its  history  confined  to  the  New  Testament,  for  it  has  it- 
Carmel  associated  with  the  life  of  Elijah,  and  Mount  Tabor  where 
Deborah's  victory  was  won.  Haifa,  the  seaport  of  Galilee,  is  buill  along 
the  front  of  Qarmel  on  the  edge  of  a  bay  which  the  mountain  help-  to 
form,  for  Carmel,  instead  of  being  a  peak,  is  really  a  long  ridge  but  a 
few  hundred  feet  in  height,  jutting  out  into  the  sea  at  this  point  and 
extending  several  miles  to  the  southeast.  A  Roman  Catholic  monastery 
is  erected  over  a  cave  overlooking  the  Mediterranean,  where  Elijah  is 
said  to  have  lived. 

To  the  north  of  Carmel  lies  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  through  which 
the  Kishon  river  Hows.  The  road  to  Nazareth  follows  the  south  side  of 
this  valley  to  a  point  some  seven  miles  from  the  shore  where  the  hills 
of  Galilee  approach  so  near  to  Carmel  as  to  leave  but  a  narrow  pass  for 
the  river.  Here  the  road  crosses  'over  to  the  north  side  of  the  valley, 
and  for  the  remainder  of  the  distance  winds  upward  over  the  hills,  giv- 
ing a  commanding  view  of  Esdraelon.  The  upper  part  of  'the  plain 
is  as  beautiful  a  country  'as  can  be  imagined — well  watered,  fertile 
and  thoroughly  cultivated.  The  land  is  not  held  in  severalty,  as  in 
America,  but  by  communities.  The  cultivators  live  in  villages,  built  at 
intervals  around  the  edge  of  the  valley,  and  the  land  is  apportioned  each 
year  by  the  village  chief,  no  one  receiving  the  same  tract  two  years 
in  succession.  As  we  looked  down  upon  the  valley  we  could  distinguish 
the  different  allotments  as  they  lay  in  long  strips  of  equal  width. 
Wheat  is  the  chief  product  of  the  valley,  although  there  are  a  few 
olive  orchards,   and   the   mulberry  tree  is  being  planted.    Oxen   are 

349 


350  THE    OLD    WORLD    AM)    ITS    WAYS 

the  animals  usually  employed  in  cultivation,  hut   we  occasionally  saw 

a  horse  and  an  ox  yoked  together  or  a  camel  and  an  ox,  and  once  a 
camel  and  a  donkey. 

Jezreel  is  on  this  plain,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Gilboa,  where  the  middle 
plain  connects  with  the  plain  leading  down  to  the  Jordan  between 
Gilboa  and  Little  Hermon.  This  is  historic  ground,  for  it  was  here 
at  a  ureal  spring  which  flows  out  from  under  Gilboa  that  Gideon 
selected  his  gallant  Land. 

The  village  of  Nazareth,  nestling  among  the  hills  of  Galilee,  mu-t 
always  be  a  place  of  supreme  interesl  to  the  Christian.  Its  location 
was  probably  determinedly  the  presence  here  of  an  unfailing  spring, 
now  known  as  Mary's  fountain.  Dr.  George  Adam  Smith,  in  his  "His- 
torical Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,''  points  out  the  relation  between 
the  springs  and  the  routes  of  travel  and  emphasizes  the  prominence 
<.f  Nazareth  in  the  Bible  times.  Christ's  boyhood  and  young  manhood 
were  spent  near  a  great  highway,  for  the  old  Roman  road  from 
Damascus  to  Egypt  ran  through  the  town.  Caravans  passed  to  and 
fro  laden  with  the  riches  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile;  princes  passed 
that  way  on  their  royal  journeys,  and  in  time  of  war  it  was  on  the 
route  of  armies.  From  a  high  hill  just  outside  the  town  Christ  could 
look  to  the  west  and  see  the  surf  line  on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
to  the  east  He  could  survey  the  walls  of  the  chasm  in  which  lay  the 
sea  of  Galilee,  while  to  the  northeast  rose  Hermon,  the  pride  of  the 
mountain-.  Several  of  His  parables  fit  quite  naturally  into  the  scenes 
upon  which  He  looked,  and  those  parables  were  the  more  effective 
because  they  were  taken  from  the  everyday  life  of  the  people.  The 
stony  ground,  the  rocky  roadways  and  the  narrow  strips  of  fertile  soil 
were  woven  into  the  Parable  of  the  Sower,  and  some  acquaintance 
of  His  youth,  following  the  merchantmen  into  Egypt  or  Mesopotamia, 
may  have  been  the  original  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 

Rev.  Selah  Merrill,  our  consul  at  Jerusalem,  has  refuted  the  state- 
ment so  frequently  made  that  the  Nazarenes  were  held  in  contempt. 
He  shows  that  there  i3  no  just  foundation  for  the  aspersions  cast  on 
th  ion  of  Galilee.     Mr.  Merrill's  book,  "Galilee  in  the  Time  of 

Christ,"  is,  I  may  add,  a  very  useful  preparation  for  a  trip  through  this 
part  of  Palestine. 

Chapels  have  been  erected  to  mark  the  home  of  Joseph  and  Mary, 
the  carpenter  shop  and  the  rock  where  Christ  met  His  disciples  after 
the  resurrection,  but  one  never  feels  certain  about  the  identification  of 
places  -elected  so  long  after  the  death  of  Christ  and  having  no  per- 
manent physical  marks. 


GALILEE 


351 


A  few  miles  to  the  east  of  Nazareth  is  a  village  called  Cana  which 
claims  to  be  the  "Cana  of  Galilee"  where  the  lirst  miracle  was  performed, 
and  a  church  lias  been  erected  over  a  well  from  which,  it  is  argued, 
the  water  was  taken  that  was  turned  into  wine,  but  two  other  villages 
with  similar  names  conte.-t  the  honor  with  this  Cana. 

The  Sea  of  Galilee  has  a  double  claim  to  distinction.  To  its  natural 
beauty,  which  is  unsurpassed,  is  added  the  glory  of  having  furnished 


A     BEDOUIN. 


the  fishermen  who  were  to  become  "fishers  of  men."  Nearly  seven 
hundred  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ocean  and  walled  by  high  hills, 
it  has  a  character  all  its  own,  and  its  shores  were  the  familiar  haunts 
of  Him  who  by  precept  and  example  taught  the  nobleness  of  service. 
The  sea  is  some  twelve  miles  in  length  by  six  or  eight  in  breadth. 
The  Jordan  pours  into  it  the  waters  of  Ilermon  and  Lake  Merom  and 
carries  awav  its  overflow  to  the  Dead  Sea.     The  Plain  of  Gennesaret 


352 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


includes  nearly  all  the  level  land  adjacent  to  it,  save  the  Jordan  valleys 
above  and  below,  and  is  so  prominent  a  feature  of  the  landscape  that 
its  name  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  sea.  The  village  of  Magdala, 
home  of  one  of  the  Marys,  is  situated  on  the  edge  of  this  plain,  but 
is  now  only  a  collection  of  mud  huts,  each  one  bearing  a  booth  of 
boughs  upon  its  flat  roof.  The  house  top  is  an  important  part  of  the 
house  in  the  Orient  and  furnishes  a  sleeping  place  for  the  occupants 
during  the  warm  summer  nights.  The  village  of  Magdala,  with  the 
land  belonging  to  it,  has  recently  been  sold  to  a  syndicate  which  pro- 
poses to  very  much  improve  its  cultivation. 


AT   BREAKFAST. 


A  little  farther  south  on  the  west  side  of  the  sea,  is  the  city  of 
Tiberias,  the  only  city  still  remaining  of  the  ten  or  more  that,  two 
thousand  years  ago,  stretched  along  the  shores.  The  city's  name 
gives  evidence  of  its  Roman  origin,  and  it  was  once  so  important  a 
place  that  its  name  was  a  rival  for  Galilee  in  the  designation  of  the 
sea.  Tiberias  was  one  of  the  sacred  cities  of  the  Jews  and  to-day  the 
descendants  of  the  Hebrew  race  constitute  three-fourths  of  its  popula- 
tion. A  Jewish  society,  of  which  Baron  Rothschild  is  the  patron,  has 
several  schools  here,  and  a  number  of  the  residents  devote  themselves 
entirely  to  the  study  of  the  lawr.  Near  Tiberias  are  the  hot  springs  spoken 


GALILEE 


353 


of  by  Josephus,  and  their  healing  waters  still  have  a  great  reputation. 
The  hath  houses  are  not  kept  as  they  would  he  in  Europe  or  America, 
but  the  mineral  properties  of  the  water  make  ii   very  invigorating. 

A  Jewish  syna- 
gogue  has  been  erect- 
ed near  the  hot 
springs  and  the  an- 
nual feasl  in  honor 
of  Rabbi  Meyer  was 
celebrated  there  dur- 
ing our  stay  in  Tibe- 
rias. As  it  was  the 
only  feast  of  the  kind 
we  had  ever  attend- 
ed, w7e  found  it  ex- 
ceedingly interesting. 
The  devout  Jews  were 
gathered  in  large 
numbers,  some  com- 
ing several  days' 
journey;  many  of 
the  men  wore  a  long 
curl  in  front  of  each 
ear,  a  custom  which 
we  first  noticed  in 
Jerusalem.  The  feast 
is  an  occasion  of  re- 
joicing and  there  are 
dancing,  music  and 
merriment.  A  part 
of  the  ceremony  is 
the  burning  of  garments  contributed  by  those  in  attendance,  and 
the  right  to  light  the  fire  is  made  a  matter  of  auction.  We  went  into 
the  room  where  the  bidding  was  in  progress  and  were  informed  that 
more  than  ten  dollars  had  already  been  offered  for  the  honor.  The 
feast  has  many  of  the  characteristics  of  a  fair,  the  vendors  of  candles, 
cakes,  drinks  and  merchandise  plying  their  trade  and  different  delega- 
tions marching  with  banners. 

There  is  at  Tiberias  a  splendidly  equipped  hospital  established  by  the 
United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  conducted  by  a  skilful  surgeon. 
Dr.  Torrance,  and  a  corps  of  assistants;  more  than  one  hundred  and 


AN    ARAB    MAIDEN. 


354 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


fifty  persons  were  treated  the  day  we  visited  the  hospital.    Surely  this 
ration  is  a  fitting  memorial,  and  what  more  appropriate  place  for  a 
hospital  than  these  shores  where  the  lame  were  made  whole,  the  deaf 
were  healed  and  the  blind  received  their  sight! 

The  site  of  Chorazin,  the  city  which  Christ  denounced  for  unbelief 
in  connect  ion  with  Capernaum  and  Bethsaiida,  is  still  a  matter  of  dis- 
pute, but  Capernaum,  where  Christ  dwelt  during  the  greater  part  of  His 
ministry,  has  probably  been  identified.  It  is  situated  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Gennesaret, 
close  by  the  shore  of 
the  sea.  There  is  no 
town  there  now  and 
no  house  save  a  Cath- 
olic monastery,  but 
r  e  c  e  n  t  excavations 
have  unearthed  the 
foundations  of  a 
building  believed  to 
have  been  the  Jewish 
synagogue  in  which 
Christ  -poke.  On  one 
of  the  -tones  of  this 
synagogue  is  a  rep- 
resentation of  David's 
seal    and    a    pot    of 

manna;  if  this  is  in  reality  the  synagogue  in  which  Christ  referred  to 
the  bread  of  life,  it  may  be  true,  as  someone  has  suggested,  that  He 
found  His  text,  "Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  wilderness,"  in  this 
carving  upon  the  stone. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  discussion  over  the  site  of  Bethsaida, 
and  some  have  argued  that  there  were  two  towns  of  the  same  name, 
one  at  the  north  end  of  the  lake  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan, 
and  the  other  on  the  west  side  not  far  from  Capernaum.  But  both 
town-  have  so  completely  disappeared  that  they  can  not  be  located 
with  any  certainty. 

Safed.  another  of  the  sacred  cities  of  the  Jews,  lies  some  distance 

of  the  sea  of  Galilee  but  within  sight  of  it,  perched  on  a  high 

hill.  It  is  so  conspicuous  a  landmark  and  so  often  seen  by  the  Great 

Teacher  that  it  may  have  suggested  to  His  mind  the  illustration,  "A 

city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  can  not  be  hid." 

The  sea  of  Galilee,  beautiful  as  it  is  with  its  clear  water  and  its 


THE    BEDOUIN    SHEPHERD   AND    HIS    FLOCK. 


GALILEE 


35! 


picturesque  environment,  is  treacherous.  Its  surface  is  swept  by  sud- 
den gusts  of  wind  and  tempests  often  Lash  it  until  its  waves  beat  high 
upon  the  shore.  A  resident  of  Tiberias  told  us  that  he  had  seen  it 
when  it  might  be  mistaken  for  an  ocean,  so  violently  was  it  agitated, 
and  ihe  bore  testimony  also  to  the  unexpected  squalls  that  visit  it. 
We  spent  two  days  on  the  sea,  and  in  crossing  it  found  the  wind  so 
variable  that  probably  half  a  dozen  times  the  sail  became  useless  and 
it  was  necessary  to  resort  to  the  oars.  There  was  no  great  tempest 
while  we  were  there,  and  the  waves  did  not  "beal  into  the  ship"  but  the 


SALIM    MOTJSSA,  WITH    PARTY  OF  TOURISTS. 


wind  was  at  times  contrary.  The  uncertainty  of  the  weather  has  been 
attributed  to  the  numerous  ravines  or  canyons  which  run  down  from 
the  mountains  round  about  the  sea,  and  as  these  are  the  same  now 
that  they  were  two  thousand  years  ago,  travel  upon  the  lake  is  attended 
with  the  same  risk  that  it  was  then. 

In  the  time  of  Christ  the  sea  of  Galilee  was  the  scene  of  busy  life. 
The  population  of  the  country  described  as  Galilee  has  been  estimated 
to  have  been  at  that  time  about  two  and  a  half  millions.  The  sea  was 


356 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


covered  with  boats,  built  for  fishing,  for  traffic,  for  war  or  for  pleasure, 
phus  collected  two  hundred  and  thirty  ships  for  one  of  his  expe- 
ditions upon  the  sea,  and  in  a  sea  fight  that  took  place  there  the  num- 
ber killed  on  one  side  alone  was  given  at  from  four  to  six  thousand. 

The  sea  was  full  of  fish,  and  the  Gospels  furnish  abundant  proof  of 
the  importance  of  fishing  as  an  industry,  a  fact  also  established  by  out- 
side  evidence.  Dr.  Merrill,  in  the  book  above  referred  to,  says  that 
fish  taken  were  not  only  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  local  demands  but 
wen-  packed  and  shdpped  to  Jerusalem  and  even  to  cities  along  the 
Mediterranean.  The  supply  of  fish  has  hot  yet  been  exhausted.  Salim 
Moussa,  of  Jaffa,  the  very  efficient  Arab  dragoman  furnished  us  by 


MARYS    WELL    AT    NAZARETH. 

!;.  supplied  us  with  a  net  when  we  visited  the  sites  of  Capernaum 
and  Betihsaidia  and  our  son  caught  enough  fish  for  our  lunch.  It  was 
a  delightful  outing  that  we  had  that  day,  gathering  water-worn  peb- 
bles from  the  beach,  picking  up  shells,  of  which  there  are  many  varie- 
ties, and  feasting  on  fish  fresh  from  the  sea  and  on  a  lamb  bought 
from  a  Bedouin  who  was  tending  his  flock  near  by. 

The  visit  to  the  Horns  of  Ilattin  was  reserved  for  the  return  trip, 

the  road  from  Nazareth  to  Tiberias  passing  mar  the  hill  which  bears 

this  name.     It  was  in  1157  the  scene  of  a  celebrated  battle  in  which 

din  won  a  victory  over  the  Crusaders.     This  hill,  by  a  tradition 

which  has  come  down  from  the  time  of  the  Crusaders,  is  styled  the 


GALILEE  3: 


1 . 


Mount  of  Beatitudes.  There  is  nothing  to  determine  just  where  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  delivered,  but  because 'the  Horns  of  Ilattin 
have  been  associated  with  that  wonderful  discourse,  I  was  anxious 
to  visit  the  place.  There  is  no  road  leading  to  this  eminence  and  the 
bridle  paths  can  scarcely  be  followed.  The  ground  is  covered  by 
boulders  and  broken  stones,  half  concealed  by  grass  and  thistles  and 
flowers.  The  guide  stepped  over  a  large  snake  before  we  had  gone 
far,  and  as  it  was  of  a  very  poisonous  variety,  lie  felt  that  lie  had 
had  a  narrow  escape.  From  a  distance  the  top  of  the  hill  i-  saddle- 
shaped,  and  the  two  horns  have  given  it  its  oame,  but  on  the  top  there 
is  a  large  circular  basin,  probably  two  hundred  yards  in  diameter, 
and  the  rim  of  this  basin  was  once  walled  and  a  citadel  built  there. 

The  view  from  this  mount  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  I  have  ever 
seen.  To  the  north,  Hermon  rises  in  grandeur,  his  summit  covered 
with  snow;  the  intervening  space  is  filled  with  hills  except  in  the 
immediate  foreground  where  the  sea  of  Galilee  sparkles  in  the  sun. 
At  the  foot  of  the  mount  stretches  a  verdant  valley,  and  from  the  val- 
ley a  defile  runs  down  to  the  sea.  This  opening  give-  a  view  of  the 
shore  where jCapernaum  and  Bethsaida  are  supposed  to  have  -tood, 
and  one  of  the  roads  from  the  sea  to  Nazareth  follow-  the  stream 
which  flows  through  this  defile.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Mount, 
Tabor  can  he  seen,  and  beyond,  the  hills  of  Samaria.  There  is  inspira- 
tion in  this  commingling  of  hill  and  vale  and  sea  and  sky.* 

Whether,  as  a  matter  of  fact.  Christ,  "•seeing  the  multitude,"  as- 
cended to  this  place  I  know  not.  but  it  furnishes  an  environment 
fit  for  the  sublime  code  of  morality  presented  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  No  other  philosophy  has  ever  touched  so  high  a  point  or 
presented  so  noble  a  conception  of  human  life.  In  it  purity  of  heart  is 
made  the  test,  mercy  is  enjoined,  humility  emphasized,  forgiveness 
commanded  and  love  made  the  law  of  action.  In  that  Sermon  He 
pointed  out  the  beginnings  'of  evil,  rebuked  those  who  allow  them- 
selves to  be  engrossed  by  the  care  of  the  body  and  gave  to  the  world  a 
brief,  simple  and  incomparable  prayer  which  the  Christian  world  re- 
peats in  unison. 

If  in  other  places  He  relieved  those  whose  sufferings  came  through 
the  infirmities  of  the  flesh.  He  here  offered  a  balm  for  the  healing  of 
the  nations. 


*Since  my  visit  to  the  Horns  of  Hattin,  I  am  cherishing  the  hope  that  some 
Christian  organization  may  some  day  make  it  easier  to  visit  this  inspiring  spot, 
by  building  a  road  to,  and  a  rest  house  upon,  the  summit. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
GREECE— THE   WORLD'S   TEACHER. 

Nothing  so  impresses  the  visitor  to  Greece — not  the  waters  of  the 
.K-r.-iii  sea,  with  their  myriad  hues;  not  the  Acropolis,  eloquent 
with  ruins;  not  even  the  lovely  site  of  Athens  itself — as  the  part 
which  little  Greece  has  played  in  the  instruction  of  the  world.  With 
an  area  of  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  square  miles,  not  half  of 
which  is  productive,  and-  with  a  population  of  less  'than  two  and  a 
half  millions,  this  diminutive  nation  has  a  history  without  a  parallel. 

There  is  scarcely  a  department  of  thought  in  which  Greece  has 
not  been  the  pioneer,  and  in  many  things  she  has  set  an  example 
which  subsequent  generations  have  but  imperfectly  followed.  If  in 
Egypt  one  is  awed  by  the  evidences  of  antiquity;  if  in  Palestine 
he  is  made  reverent  by  the  spiritual  association  connected  with  Judea, 
Galilee  and  Samaria;  in  Greece  he  bows  with  profound  respect  to  the 
mighty  influence  exerted  by  this  single  people  upon  civilization. 

The  signs  along  the  streets  recall  the  alphabet  with  which  the  stu- 
dent of  the  classics  struggles  when  he  takes  up  the  dead  languages — 
and  yet,  the  Greek  language  can  hardly  be  called  dead,  for  while  it  is 
tin-  .-poken  tongue  of  but  a  comparatively  small  number,  it  has  found 
a  glorious  resurrection  in  nearly  all  the  languages  of  Europe.  In 
fact,  it  has  so  many  merits  that  we  are  constantly  complimenting 
it  by  returning  to  it  for  the  nomenclature  of  philosophy,  science 
and   art. 

Of  those  who  still  speak  the  language  of  Herodotus,  Homer,  Soc- 
rates and  Demosthenes,  a  majority  live  outside  of  Greece,  for  the 
Greek  colonies  planted  around  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterranean 
form  a  considerable,  as  well  as  an  influential,  portion  of  the  population. 
Greek  colonization,  by  the  way,  was  of  an  enduring  kind.  Those 
who  went  out  into  distant  fields  did  not  go  as  individual  bees  (official 
or  commercial)  to  gather  honey  and  return  with  it  to  the  parent  hive; 
they  went  out  rather  in  swarms  to  found  cities,  develop  countries  and 
establish  new  centers  for  the  spread  of  Greek  influence.  They  identi- 
fied themselves  with  the  land  to  which  .they  went;  they  became  an 

358 


GREECE,    THE    WORLD'S    TEACHEB 


359 


integral  part  of  the  population,  and,  by  virtue  of  their  inherent  supe- 
riority, they  gradually  substituted  the  Language,  the  idea-,  and  the 
customs  of  their  native  land  for  those  which  they  found.  So  securely 
did  they  huild  that  neither  the  Roman  nor  the  Turk  was  able  to  ob- 
literate their  work.  The  people  ho  wed  before  the  storm,  but  contin- 
ued Greek,  and  to-day  in  Alexandria,  Asia  Minor  and  Constantinople, 
Hellenic  influence  is  still  felt. 

The  ancient  Greeks  sought  to  perfect  the  human  form,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  'that  the  marble  models  of  strength,  grace  ami 
beauty  have  been  unearthed  where  the  Olympian  game-  inspired  a 
rivalry  in  physical  development.  The  game-  were  established  nearly 
eight  hundred  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  and 


THE  PARTHENON. 


during  the  nation's  independent  existence  they  were  held  in  such 
high  esteem  that  the  laurel  wreath  of  victory  was  the  greatest  reward 
writhin  the  reach  of  the  youth  of  the  country.  Each  city  had  its  sta- 
dium, some  of  them  of  immense  size.  The  one  at  Athens  seated  fifty 
thousand  spectators,  and  the  enthusiasm  aroused  by  the  contests  was 
scarcely  less  than  that  which  at  Rome  greeted  the  gladiators.  By  the  gen- 
erosity of  a  rich  Greek  the  stadium  at  Athens  has  recently  been  restored 
at  a  cost  of  more  than  a  million  dollars.  The  race  course  is  six  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  long  and  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  feet  in  width, 
and  the  seats  are  of  Pentelic  marble.  Notwithstanding  its  great  capac- 
ity it  can  not  contain  the  crowds  that  assemble  to  witness  the  athletic 


360 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


games,  renewed  there  in  1896  by  the  International  Athletic  Associa- 
tion. Our  country  has  the  distinction  of  having  led  in  the  contesl 
of  1896  and  again  in  the  contest  held  at  Athens  last  April.  Our 
representatives  won  eleven  prizes  each  time,  and  I  found  that  these 
victories  had  very  favorably  impressed  the  people  of  Athens. 

The  stadium  is  not  the  only  splendid  monument  to  the  public 
spirit  of  the  modern  Greeks.  The  academy  <of  science  and  the  library 
are  magnificent  buildings,  each  costing  more  than  the  restoration 
of  the  stadium.  They  illustrate  the  best  in  Grecian  'architecture, 
reproducing  the  Corinthian,  the  Doric,  and  the  Ionic.  They  are  of 
I  Vn telie  marble  and  would  be  worthy  of  a  place  in  any  city  of  the 
world.  The  library  contains  several  hundred  thousand  volumes  and  has 


THE   ACROPOLIS  AT   ATHENS. 


all  the  modern  equipment.  Athens  has  a  population  of  but  little  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand,  and  it  is  'doubtful  whether  there  is  another 
city  of  its  size  that  can  boast  of  as  large  an  expenditure  of  private 
capital  in  public  buildings.  The  mountain  which  has  supplied  Athens 
with  marble  for  twenty-five  hundred  years  is  only  a  few  miles  from 
the  city  and  it-  quarries  are  still  unexhausted. 

Modern  Athens  is  very  attractive;  its  streets  are  paved  and  clean; 
it-  business  houses  are  large  and  well  built;  its  government  buildings 
are  substantial,  and  its  private  residences  give  evidence  of  taste.  We 
were  there  in  the  season  of  flowers  and  we  saw  them  blooming  in 
profusion  everywhere.   Numerous  statues  adorn  the  streets  and  parks. 


GREECE,    THE    WORLD'S    TEACHER  361 

the  most  noted  being  the  statue  of  Byron,  erected  in  memory  of  his 
unselfish  devotion  to  Greek  independence. 

The  soldiers  and  policemen  have  adopted  the  costun f  the  ancient 

Greeks,  but  otherwise  the  people  dress  like  the  people   of   northern 
Europe. 

As  one  approaches  Athens  for  the  first  time,  his  eye  is  sure  to 
search  for  the  "temple-crowned"  Acropolis — the  hill  which  art  and 
religion  combined  to  make  immortal.  It  rises  from  the  plain  much 
as  Chapultepec  rises  from  the  plain  of  Mexico.  It  is  'about  five  hundred 
feet  high  and,  ait  the  top,  two  hundred  yards  in  length.  It  must  have 
been  surpassingly  beautiful  when  the  Parthenon  was  completed — that 
great  treasury  which  has  not  only  supplied  the  art  galleries  of  the 
world  with  marvels  of  beauty  in  stone,  but  has  given  law  to  the 
architects  from  that  day  to  this.  Pericles,  who  deserves  the  credit 
for  the  construction  of  the  Parthenon,  can  be  pardoned  for  exulting 
in   his   work. 

To-day,  the  Acropolis  is  a  picture  of  desolation,  but  the  few  columns 
that  remain  bear  witness  to  its  departed  glory.  Lord  Elgin  carried 
away  at  one  time  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  the  sculptured  frieze, 
and  scarcely  any  of  its  columns,  capitals,  cornice  and  pediment  would 
have  remained  but  for  the  size  and  weight  of  the  masses  of  marble. 
The  pillage  that  for  nearly  twenty  centuries  has  been  robbing  Greece 
of  her  priceless  works  of  art  can  be  understood  when  it  is  stated  that 
one  Roman  conqueror  celebrated  his  victory  by  exhibiting  in  his 
triumphant  procession  two  hundred  and  fifty  wagon  loads  of  Greek 
pictures  and  statues,  and  that  these  wagons  were  followed  by  three 
thousand  men  each  bearing  some  trophy  taken  from  the  cities  of 
Greece. 

And  yet  in  spite  of  the  grand  larceny  which  has  been  perpetrated 
against  this  unfortunate  land  the  museum  at  Athens  contains  enough 
of  the  beautiful  in  marble  and  bronze  to  make  any  nation  conspicuous 
in  the  realm  of  art.  Within  two  years  some  notable  additions  have  been 
made  to  the  collection;  a  life-sized  bronze  statue  has  been  unearthed 
and  a  marble  figure,  half  buried  in  the  sands  of  the  sea,  has  been 
rescued.  The  latter  is  perfect  in  the  portions  protected  by  the  sand 
but  was  disintegrating  where  it  came  into  contact  with  the  waves. 

The  readers  of  these  articles  are  too  well  informed  in  regard  to 
the  discoveries  of  Dr.  Sohliemann  to  make  .it  necessary  to  refer  to 
his  work  in  detail.  One  room  of  the  museum  contains  the  gold 
ornaments  which  he  gathered  from  five  tombs,  and  they  are  sufficient 
to  show  the  extended  use  made  of  this  metal  in  the  arts.    Thev  con- 


362 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


sist  of  ear  rings,  finger  rings,  bracelets,  necklaces,  head  ornaments, 
-.  cups,  coins,  etc.  A  pair  of  cups  which  attract  special  attention 
bear  in  relief  the  figures  of  bulls — the  animals  being  equal  in  form  to 
the  besl  breeds  of  to-day.  On  one  cup  they  are  being  led  to  the  sacri- 
fice and  on  the  other  they  are  bound  at  the  altar. 

Besides  these  statues  of  renown  and  the  casts  of  those  which  have 
been  removed,  there  are  many  specimens  of  ancient  pottery  by 
which  one  can  trace  the  rise  in  artistic  taste  and  skill.  Some  of  the 
earliest  statues  in  stone  and  clay  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  those 
of  Egypt. 

Second  only  in  interest  to  the  Acropolis  is  Mars  Hill,  a  rocky  sum- 
mit two-thirds  'of  the  height  of  the  Acropolis.  Here  the  ancient 
court  of  the  Areopagus,  composed  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  Athenians, 


MAES    HILL. 


held  its  sessions.  Here  under  the  dome  of  the  sky  the  most  important 
cases  were  tried  and  life  and  death  hung  upon  the  decree  of  the  court. 
Here,  also,  Paul's  great  speech  to  -the  "men  of  Athens"  was  delivered, 
his  text  being  found  in  the  altar  erected  to  "the  unknown  god." 

Only  a  little  distance  from  Mars  Hill  is  the  stone  platform  from 
which  tlic  orators  -of  Greece  addressed  the  people.  A  level,  shelf-like 
-pace  was  formed  near  the  top  of  the  hill  where  a  few  thousand  could 
congregate,  and  here  the  citizens  listened  while  the  greatest  of  all  public 
speakers  poured  forth  his  eloquence.  It  was  worth  a  trip  to  Athens 
to  view  the  spot  where  Demosthenes  delivered  the  oration  -on  the  Crown 
and  the  Philippics,  which  have  been  the  pattern  set  before  the  student 
for  twenty-two  hundred  years.  In  the  marshalling  of  facts,  in  the 
grouping  of  argument-,  in  the  use  of  invective  and  in  the  arranging 


GREECE,    THE    WORLD'S    TEACHER 


303 


of  climaxes  he  is  still  the  teacher.  Someone  has  drawn  a  distinction 
between  Cicero  and  Demosthenes,  saying  that  when  the  former  spoke 
the  people  said:  "How  well  Cicero  speaks,"  while,  when  Demosthenes 
spoke,  they  said:  "Let  us  go  against  Phillip!''  Demosthenes'  style  was 
more  convincing  than  ornate;  his  purpose  was  to  arouse,  not  merely 
to  please,  and  from  the  accounts  that  have  come  down  to  us  his 
delivery  was  suited  to  his  language.  He,  in  fact,  gave  to  action  tin- 
highest  place  among  the  requisites  of  effective  speech.  We  recalled 
the  saying  of  Demosthenes  when  we  listened  to  the  excited  tones  and 
watched  the  gesticulations  of  the  boatmen  who  thronged  about  our 
ship  in  the  harbor  of  Piraeus.  The  physician  who  came  aboard  to 
examine  the  passengers  gave  us  even  a  better  illustration  of  "action," 
although    his    gestures    were    more    forcible    than    graceful,    possibly 


DEMOSTHENES     PLATFORM. 


because  he  addressed  himself  to  the  captain  of  the  ship  instead  of  to 
the   multitude. 

On  the  shore  of  the  iEgean  sea,  between  Athens  and  the  harbor, 
at  a  place  where  Demosthenes  may  have  tested  his  voice  against  the 
tumult  of  the  waves,  I  gathered  some  pebbles.  I  can  not  prove  that  they 
are  the  identical  ones  used  by  him  to  overcome  the  impediment  in 
his  speech,  but  they  are  at  least  a  reminder  of  the  toilsome  struggle 
through  which  he  passed  before  his  name  was  known  to  fame 

It  was  >a  disappointment  to  find  so  little  to  mark  the  site  of  the 
academy  where  Socrates  and  Plato  met  their  disciples.  These  philoso- 
phers have  made  such  an  impression  upon  the  thought  of  the  world 
that  I  had  hoped  to  find  some  spot  clearly   identified  as  the  place 


364  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

re  i hey  taught.  An  old  house  now  stands  on  a  treeless  tract  over 
which  they  are  said  to  have  walked  in  their  daily  discussions,  but  it  is 
a  modern  one.  A  gate  admits  to  the  grounds,  although  no  wall 
incloses  them.  It  is  much  easier  to  picture  Demosthenes  speaking  from 
the  rostrum  which  still  remains,  than  to  imagine  Socrates  propounding 
here  his  questions  and  elaborating  the  method  of  reasoning  to  which 
his  name  has  been  given. 

There  is  an  old  cemetery  within  the  limits  of  the  present  city  where 
;ii  excavation  has  brought  to  light  numerous  tombs  ornamented 
with  sculpture.  Some  of  the  groups  of  statuary  and  urns  have  been 
left  where  they  were  found,  while  others  have  been  given  a  place  in  the 
museum.  These  'are  'additional  proof  of  the  number  of  those  who 
handled  the  chisel  in  the  days  of  Phidias. 

No  spot  is  identified  with  Herodotus,  the  Father  of  History,  or  with 
Thucydides  who,  with  Herodotus,  has  been  the  instructor  of  later  chron- 
iclers. Except  the  remains  of  the  theatres,  there  is  nothing  to  recall 
the  tragedies  of  Euripides,  iEschylus  and  Sophocles  or  the  comedies 
of  the  Aristophanes;  and  no  place  is  pointed  out  as  the  site  of  the 
studio  of  Parrhasius  or  Zeuxis,  though  the  lessons  which  they  taught 
the  world  have  not  been  forgotten.  While  the  guide  does  not  pretend 
to  know  the  house  in  which  Homer  lived  or  where  he  wrote  his  death- 

-  songs,  the  traveler  who  passes  through  the  Hellespont  can  see  the 
plains  of  ill-fated  Troy,  and  during  his  stay  in  Greece  his  memory 
runs  over  the  heroes  of  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey. 

There  are  no  physical  evidences  of  the  life  work  of  Lycurgus  and 
Solon,  yet  the  laws  which  they  promulgated  are  the  heritage  of  man- 
kind. Salamis  remains,  and  if  the  naval  battle  which  Themistocles  won 
had  had  no  other  effect  than  to  furnish  Pericles  with  a  theme  for  his 
great  funeral  orations,  it  would  still  have  been  worthy  of  remembrance. 
The  battlefield  of  Marathon  which  gave  Miltiades  a  place  among  the 
world's  generals  is  also  unchanged.  It  is  about  twenty-five  miles  from 
Athens,  and  the  story,  told  in  marble,  of  the  Greek  who  carried  the 
news  of  the  victory  to  Athens  and  died  from  exhaustion  amid  the 
shouts  of  his  countrymen,  has  led  to  the  incorporation  of  a  twenty-five 
mile  race  in  the  athletic  games  when  they  are  held  at  Athens.  In  1896 
the  race  was  won  by  a  Greek  (much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  audience), 
who  made  the  run  from  Marathon  to  the  city  in  two  hours  and  forty- 
five  minu' 

The  pass  at  Thermopylae  is  also  to  be  seen,  and  the  heroism  of  the 
three  hundred  Spartans  who,  under  the  leadership  of  Leonidas,  offered 
up  their  live-  there  for  their  country,  continues  to  be  an  inspiration. 


GREECE,    THE    WORLD'S    TEACHER 


365 


They  failed 'to  stay  the  onward  march  of  Xerxes,  bu1  who  can  measure 

the  value  of  their  example? 

Corinth,  as  of  old,  still  guards  the  entrance  to  the  Peloponnesus; 
but  notwithstanding  the  canal,  which,  at  this  point,  connect-  the 
xEgean  Sea  with  the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  the  city  has  only  a  small  popula- 
tion. 

Corinth  brings  to  memory  the  pari  Greece  played  in  the  spread  of 
Christianity.  It  was  not  enough  that  this  country  led  the  world  in 
statecraft  and  'oratory,  in  poetry  and  history,  in  philosophy  and 
literature,  in  art  and  in  athletics,  she  was  also  one  of  the  firsl  mission 
fields  of  the  apostles.  It  was  to  the  Corinthians  that  Paul  wrote 
the  Epistles  in  which  love  is  given  the  first  place  among  the  virtues, 
•and  it  was  Greece  that  gave  her  name  to  one  of  the  great  branches  of 
the  Christian  Church. 

A  democrat  may  be  pardoned  for  cherishing  a  high  regard  for 
the  land  that  coined  the  word,  democracy.  TJie  derivation  of  the  word 
— from  demos,  the  people,  and  kratein,  to  rule — makes  it  an  appro- 
priate one  to  describe  a  government  based  upon  popular  will.  And 
as  governments  more  and  more  recognize  the  citizen  as  the  sovereign, 
and  the  people  as  the  source  of  all  political  power,  the  world's  debt 
to  Greece  will  be  more  and  more  fully  appreciated.  She  not  only 
gave  to  language  a  word  accurately  expressing  the  idea  of  self-govern-, 
ment,  but  she  proved  by  experience  the  wisdom  of  trusting  the  people 
with  the  management  of  all  public  affairs. 


FRIEZE   OF    THE    PARTHENON 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  BYZANTINE  CAPITAL. 

It  is  impossible  to  convey  to  the  reader  any  adequate  idea  of  the 
beauties  of  the  Bosphorus  at  the  point  where  Constantine  located  the 
capital  of  the  Byzantine  empire.  The  best  way  to  approach  it  is  by 
the  .sea,  and  as  the  traveler  usually  enters  from  the  west,  he  sails  through 
the  Dardanelles,  known  in  ancient  times  as  the  Hellespont,  passes 
through  the  sea  of  Marmora  and  enters  the  Bosphorus  between  Con- 
stantinople, on  the  one  side,  and  Skutari  on  the  other.  The  Bosphorus 
itself  is  between  fifteen  and  twenty  miles  long  and  very  deep.  It  is 
the  connecting  link  between  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Sea  of  Marmora 
and  the  hills  that- jut  into  it  on  either  side  are  nearly  all  covered  with 
towns  and  villas.  The  water  is  as  clear  as  the  water  of  a  lake,  and 
fish  may  be  seen  at  a  great  distance  below  the  surface.  A  ride  through 
the  Bosphorus  reminds  one  of  a  trip  up  the  Hudson,  although  the 
former  has  the  advantage  in  the  depth  of  the  stream,  in  the  trans- 
parency of  the  water,  in  the  height  of  the  banks  and  in  the  irregu- 
larity of  the  course.  In  fact,  the  channel  contains  so  many  curves  that 
one  seems  to  be  passing  through  a  succession  of  lakes.* 

A  little  more  than  half  way  between  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the 
Black  Sea,  on  the  north  bank,  is  Therapia,  the  summer  capital,  to  which 
the  officials  repair  when  the  warm  weather  begins,  and  upon  the  same 
bank,  'about  half  way  between  Constantinople  and  Therapia,  is 
Roberts  College,  an  institution  for  boys,  established  and  maintained 
by  American  philanthropy.  It  occupies  a  promontory  which  over- 
looks the  Bosphorus  at  its  narrowest  point,  the  point  at  which  Moham- 
med II  crossed  over  from  Asia,  when  in  1453  he  succeeded  in  captur- 
ing Constantinople. 

The  Golden  Horn  is  the  name  given  to  an  arm  of  the  Bosphorus' 
which,   leaving   tli.it    -trait    a    few   miles   from   the   Sea   of  Marmora. 


*  The  traveler  is  sure  to  notice  some  little  birds  which  resemble  swallows  flying 
up  and  down  the  stream.  They  do  not  light  but  skim  along  the  water  all  day 
long.  Their  restless  and  seemingly  aimless  flight  has  caused  them  to  be  called 
"the  lost  souls  of  the  Bosphorus." 

366 


THE    BYZANTINE    CAPITAL 


367 


stretches  northward  five  or  six  miles  to  receive  a  stream  called  the 
Sweet  Waters  of  Europe.  It  may  have  been  that  the  Golden  Horn  al 
one  time  rivaled  the  Bosphorus  in  beauty,  but  it  does  so  no  longer. 
Full  of  ships  and  boats  of  every  description,  from  war  vessels  to 
canoes,  and  polluted  by  the  sewage  of  two  cities,  it  disappoints  as  much 
as  the  Bosphorus  delights. 

The  city  of  Constantinople  is  divided  by  the  Golden  Horn,  Stamboul, 
the  Turkish  city  lying  on  the  west,  and  Galata  and  Pera,  the  foreign 
quarters,  lying  on  the  east.  Skutari  stretdhes  along  the  Asiatic  side 
of  the  Bosphorus,  and  the  navies  and  merchant  vessels  of  all  the  world 
could  ride  in  safety  in  the  waters  adjacent  to  these  three  cities. 

In  the  seventh  century,  b.  c,  a  small  colony  of  Greeks  under  the  lead 
of  Byzas  settled  at  Cape  Bosphorus,  now  the  site  of  Stamboul,  and  in  the 
rise  and  fall  of  the  dynasties  of  the  cast,  it  has  played  an  important 


ST.    SOFIA   AT    CONSTANTINOPLE. 


part.  Being  on  the  boundary  line  between  Asia  and  Europe  and  guard- 
ing the  water  communication  between  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean, it  possesses  strategic  advantages  which  statesmen  and  war- 
riors have  been  quick  to  recognize.  The  Persians  always  wanted  it 
and  several  times  captured  it,  The  Greeks  were  continually  taking- 
it  and  losing  it;  Phillip  of  Macedon  laid  siege  to  it  and  in  so  doing 
furnished  Demosthenes  with  a  theme  for  some  of  his  greatest  speeches. 
There  is  a  tradition  that  Phillip  would  have  succeeded,  in  spite  of  the 
aid  given  by  the  Athenians,  but  for  the  barking  of  dogs,  which  apprised 
the  inhabitants  of  a  night  assault.  As  the  dogs  were  set  to  barking, 
not  by  the  enemy,  but  by  the  moon  which  rose  just  in  time  to  save  the 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

city,  the  Byzantines  adopted  the  crescent  as  their  emblem  and  ic  has 
continued  to  be  'the  emblem  of  Turkey,  having  been  retained  by 
the  Turks  after  their  victory. 

Alexander  the  Great  became  imaster  of  the  Bosphorus,  and  later 
Byzantium  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  After  a.  checkered 
career  of  two  centuries  it  was  taken  by  Constantine,  who  decided  to 
make  it  the  capital  of  the  Roman  world,  and  his  own  name  has  been 
given  to  it,  although  he  intended  to  call  it  New  Rome.  No  one  can 
doubt  the  political  wisdom  of  the  first  Christian  emperor  in  putting 
the  seat  of  government  at  this  place.  If  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa  are 
ever  brought  together  under  one  government  or  under  one  confedera- 
tion, Constantinople  will  be  the  natural  and  necessary  capital.  The 
shores  of  Africa,  southern  Europe  and  Asia  Minor  are  washed  by 
the  Mediterranean  and  by  its  gulfs  and  bays;  the  Black  Sea  is  the 
outlet  of  southern  Russia  and  part  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  new 
railroad  which  is  being  built  to  connect  Europe  with  the  Euphrates 
and  India,  crosses  the  Bosphorus  here.  When  this  road  is  finished, 
it  will  be  possible  to  go  from  London  to  India  in  about  six  days,  and 
one  of  the  Turkish  governors  expressed  the  hope  that  it  would  be 
completed  within  six  or  seven   years. 

Constantine  built  a  magnificent  cathedral,  one  of  the  greatest  ever 
constructed,  it  being  his  purpose  to  surpass  any  house  of  worship  that 
man  had  reared.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross  and  was  originally 
rich  in  mosaics,  some  of  which  still  remain.  The  dome  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  world.  This  cathedral,  called  St.  Sophia,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Mohammedans  wdien  'Constantinople  was  taken  and  is 
now  used  as  a  mosque.  When  hope  of  successful  resistance  wTas  gone, 
the  Christians  of  Constantinople  crowded  into  the  cathedral — some  have 
estimated  the  number  as  high  as  a  hundred  thousand,  but  that  seems 
hardly  possible — praying  that  the  church  might  at  least  be  spared, 
but  the  leader  of  the  Turks  rode  into  the  building  on  his  charger, 
and,  striking  one  of  the  pillars  with  his  sword,  exclaimed;  "There  is 
no  God  but  Allah  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet!"  Then  followed  a 
slaughter  so  cruel  and  bloody  that  the  Christians  never  recall  the  day 
without  indulging  the  hope  that  the  building  may  some  day  return  to 
the  possession  of  those  who  cherish  the  faith  of  its  founder. 

Constantinople  is  full  of  mosques,  their  minarets  rising  above  all 
other  buildings,  but  none  of  them  possess  for  either  Christian  or  Mos- 
lem the  importance  that  attaches  to  St.  Sophia. 

The  modem  mosques  lack  the  stateliness  of  Contantine's  building, 
and  are  not  so  rich  in  their  ornamentation  as  some  of  the  mosques  of 


w 

K 


w. 


O 

SO 

d 

173 


o 

r- 


S<     >' 


O 


370  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

India.  There  is  one,  however,  near  the  upper  end  of  the  Golden 
Horn  which  is  regarded  by  the  Turks  as  especially  sacred  because  it 
is  the  burial  place  of  the  first  Mohammedan  (a  standard  bearer  of 
Mahomet)  who  attempted  the  capture  of  Constantinople.  Each  sultan 
visits  that  mosque  as  he  enters  upon  his  reign,  and  Christians  are  not 
permitted  to  use  the  street  leading  to  the  mosque.  The  sultan  visits 
St.  Sophia  once  a  year,  but  he  is  in  such  fear  of  assassination  that  he 
usually  has  a  street  cleared  for  his  passage  and  then  quietly  goes  by 
water  to  elude  the  crowd. 

The  first  settlement  at  Constantinople,  or  at  Byzantine,  as  it  was 
originally  called  in  honor  of  its  founder,  was  made  at  wrbat  is  now- 
known  as  Seraglio  Point,  an  elevation  which  extends  into  the  Bos- 
phorus  between  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Golden  Horn.  It  com- 
mands the  best  view  of  any  place  in  the  city.  The  historian,  Bancroft, 
visited  this  spot  and  was  so  impressed  by  the  magnificence  of  the  pan- 
orama spread  out  before  him  that  he  stood  gazing  at  it  for  an  hour. 
This  was  the  site  selected  for  the  royal  'palace,  and  the  kings,  emperors 
and  sultans  lived  here  until  recent  years,  but  it  is  so  exposed  to  the 
attack  of  any  hostile  fleet  that  the  sultan's  palace  has,  as  a  matter  of  pre- 
caution, been  removed  to  the  hills  back  of  Galata,  and  Seraglio  Point 
is  now  a, -sort  of  curiosity  shop.  It  is  visited  with  difficulty,  permission 
having  to  be  obtained  from  the  sultan  himself,  upon  application  of  the 
diplomatic  representative  of  the  nation  to  which  the  visitor  belongs. 
By  the  courtesy  of  our  legation  we  obtained  a  permit  and  found  it  full 
of  interest.  One  of  the  buildings  contains  a  very  old  library,  another 
is  a  reproduction  of  a  Persian  summer  house  which,  ia  former  sultan 
having  admired,  his  chief  eunuch  had  removed  to  Constantinople 
without  his  master's  knowledge. 

The  most  important  building  on  the  Point,  however,  is  the  treasury 
where  the  crown  jewels,  ornamented  arms,  royal  gifts  and  the  robes  of 
former  sultans  are  kept.  It  would  require  more  space  than  that  allotted 
to  a  dozen  articles  to  describe  even  the  more  important  pieces  of  this 
collection.  One  room  contains  two  thrones  brought  from  Persia,  one 
of  which  must  have  rivaled  the  famous  Peacock  Throne  of  Delhi.  It 
is  of  unusual  size  and  literally  covered  with  rubies,  emeralds  and  pearls, 
arranged  in  graceful  patterns.  The  seat  is  of  crimson  velvet  embroid- 
ered with  gold  and  pearls.  The  other  throne,  while  smaller,  is  even 
more  richly  ornamented;  it  is  incrusted  with  larger  jewels  and  has  a 
canopy,  from  the  center  of  which  is  suspended  an  emerald  of  enormous 
size. 

Along  the  walls  of  one  room  were  exhibited  the  costumes  of  the 


TTTR    BYZANTINE    CAPITAL 


371 


various  sultans  from  Mohammed  IT  to  the  present.  Nowhere  else  have 
we  seen  such  evidences  of  Oriental  splendor  in  dress.  The  robes  of 
state  are  flowered  and  figured  and  heavy  with  gold;  the  turbans  are 
huge — sometimes  fifteen  inches  in  height  and  breadth — and  adorned 
with  aigrettes  of  great  value.  One  of  these  ornaments  contains  three 
stones,  a  ruby  and  two  emeralds  as  large  as  pigeons'  eggs  and  without 
a  flaw.  With  eaeh  robe  is  the  sword  or  dagger  carried  by  the  sultan 
and  each  has  a  jeweled  handle.     While  the  robes  differ  in  color  and 


SMOKING  TILE  HUBBLE-BUBBLE  PIPE. 


design — as  star  differeth  from  star  in  glory — and  while  the  aigrettes 
and  sword  handles  vary  in  pattern,  all  are  on  the  same  scale  and  show 
lavish  expenditure.  They  are  in  striking  contrast  with  the  last  of  the 
series,  which  is  simply  a  red  military  uniform  covered  with  gold  braid. 
The  treasury  contains  numerous  portraits  of  sultans  and  family 
trees,  presenting  the  heads  of  the  present  royal  line.  It  seems  that 
nearly  all  of  the  Mohammedan  rulers  wore  a  full  beard,  and  some  of 
them  bad  strong  faces. 


372  niK    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Besides  the  .-word-  of  the  sultans,  there  are  in  the  treasury  innumer- 
able oilier  swords  with  jeweled  handles,  and  with  scabbards  inlaid 
with  gold,  silver  and  gems.  There  are  guns  also  of  every  description, 
many  of  them  engraved  and  ornamented  with  gold  and  silver.  One 
fortification  gun  bears  upon  the  barrel  quotations  from  the  Koran 
written   in  gold. 

Then  there  are  jewel  boxes,  vessels  of  gold  and  vessels  of  silver,  rare 
china,  some  of  it  set  with  jewels,  not  to  speak  of  enameled  ware  and 
embroideries.  Many  of  these  pieces  were  gifts  sent  or  brought  by  other 
rulers,  for  in  the  Orient  the  gift  is  as  indispensable  in  dealing  with  the 
sovereign  as  "baksheesh"  is  in  dealing  with  the  subordinate  Turkish 
official. 

When  we  had  finished  the  inspection  of  Seraglio  Point,  we  were 
conducted  to  one  of  the  reception  rooms  and  refreshed  with  a  jam  made 
of  rose  leaves,  and  this  was  followed  by  Turkish  coffee.  Turkish  coffee 
by  the  way,  is  very  different  from  the  coffee  of  the  Occident.  The 
berry  i.-  ground  or  pounded  until  it  is  as  fine  as  flour;  it  is  then  put 
into  water  and  raised  -to  the  boiling  point  and  cooled  three  times.  It 
is  usually  served  hot,  and  is  very  black  and  so  thick  that  at  least  half 
of  the  small  cup  is  sediment. 

The  streets  of  Constantinople  are  narrow,  crooked  and  dirty.  There 
is  no  park  system,  and  the  cemeteries  scattered  through  the  city,  being 
-haded  with  cypress,  trees,  furnish  about  the  only  picnic  grounds  for 
the  people.  It  is  not  an  unusual  sight  to  see  a  gay  party  spreading 
its  lunch  amid  the  tombs.  A  Mohammedan  graveyard  is  full  of 
head-tones  as  well  a.s  trees,  and  on  top  of  the  stone  is  often 
carved  a  fez  or  a  turban.  While  most  of  this  stony  head  wear  is 
unadorned,  one  sees  occasionally  a  painted  fez,  red  being  the  popular 
col  »r. 

There  is  one  park,  called  the  Sweet  Waters  of  Europe,  and  extending 
along  the  stream  which  bears  that  name,  where  the  Turkish  won: en 
congregate — especially  on  Friday  afternoon.  As  might  be  expected, 
tin'  men  have  formed  the  habit  of  driving  in  the  park  on  these  days 
i  order  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  women,  for  Turkish  women  live 
in  such  seclusion  that  they  are  seldom  seen.  They  wear  veils,  but 
as  we  visited  the  park,  we  can  testify  that  the  veils  are  not  always 
heavy  enough  to  conceal  the  features.  When  the  eye  is  especially 
ln.-trous  or  the  face  more  comelv  than  usual,  the  veil  is  occasionally 

lifted. 

The    ride   to    and    from    the    park   also   gives   one   an    opportunity 


THE    BYZANTINE    CAPITAL 


373 


to  see  a  great  many  fine  teams  perfectly  matched,  for  the  Turk  has 
caught  the  Arab's  fondness  for  the  horse. 

The  bazaars  of  Constantinople  repay  a  visit,  though  quite  like  the 
bazaars  of  Cairo  and  Damascus.  The  booths  are  more  substantially 
built  and  more  commodious,  and  the  labyrinth  of  streets  and  alleys 
which  form  the  old  bazaar  arc  all  under  roof.  As  these  passages 
wander  about  aimlessly,  one  can  easily  become  lost  in  them.  While 
one  cannot  rely  upon  the  first  price  given,  the  vendor-  have  a  reputa- 
tion  for  honesty,  and  a  lady   told   lis   of  having  had   her   attention 


*^P 

' % 

'  -- .-.-_; -...J:.:.. 

LAi.-TTPI 

'•  n 

"*"                           -    "     .  ■■      ■  _^_I 

ROBERTS  COLLEGE,  NEAE  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


called  to  a  mistake  of  five  dollar-  in  change  and  of  having  the  money 
returned  to  her  when  she  next  visited  the  bazaar. 

I  mentioned  the  Oriental  dog  in  speaking  of  Damascus;  he  forces 
himself  upon  public  attention  in  Constantinople  also.  The  dogs  of 
this  city  act  as  scavengers  and  are  relied  upon  to  keep  the  streets 
neat — a  vain  reliance,  for  while  they  devour  [everything  that  they 
can  digest,  they  are  not  sufficient  for  the  task  imposed  upon  them. 
These  dogs  are  wolfish  in  appearance  and  generally  yellow  in  color. 
Lacking  the  fidelity  which  the  dog  is  accustomed  to  show  to  his  master, 


374  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

•animals  roam  'about  the  street  and  haunt  the  places  where  food 
is  most  likely  to  be  found.  'The  people  of  Constantinople  assert  that 
the  dogs  maintain  a  police  force  of  their  own,  'and,  dividing  the  city 
into  districts,  enforce  their  own  regulations.  If  a  strange  dog  comes 
into  the  district,  he  is  at  once  driven  out  by  the  canine  sentinel  on 
that  brat. 

The  Golden  Horn  is  spanned  by  two  pontoon  bridges  (if  the  word 
spanned  can  be  used  in  connection  with  such  a  bridge)  and  the  one 
connecting  the  business  portions  of  Stamboul  and  Galata  is  a  veritable 
mint,  the  income  from  the  tolls  'amounting  at  times  to  two  thousand 
dollars  per  day.  It  is  owned  by  the  government,  and  bridge  com- 
panies have  offered  to  replace  it  with  a  good  bridge  for  the  income  of 
two  or  three  years,  but  it  is  so  profitable  that  it  is  allowed  to  remain 
in  its  present  dilapidated  condition. 

One  can  stand  on  this  bridge  and  see  all  phases  of  life  and  all  types 
of  human  beings.  All  nationalities  meet  in  Constantinople  and  all 
colors  are  represented  here.  Two  streams  pass  each  other  on  this 
bridge  from  dawn  to  dark,  and  there  is  no  better  place  to  study  the 
tragedies  and  the  comedies  of  life  as  they  are  depicted  in  the  faces  of 
the  people. 

The  haste  that  is  to  be  seen  on  the  bridge  is  in  sharp  contrast  with 
the  air  of  leisure  which  pervades  the  coffee  houses  and  the  side  streets 
where  fezzed  or  turbaned  Turks  meet  to  smoke  their  hubble-bubble 
pipes  (the  smoke  being  drawn  through  water)  and  discuss  such  topics 
as  arc  not  forbidden  by  the  extremely  watchful  government  under 
which  they  live. 

Before  leaving  Constantinople  we  crossed  over  to  the  Asiatic  side 
to  visit  the  American  school  for  girls,  which  has  enjoyed  a  prosperous 
existence  for  more  than  twenty  years.  It  is  another  evidence  of  the 
far-reaching  sympathy  of  the  Christian  people  of  the  United  States  and 
adds  to  the  feeling  of  pride  with  which  an  American  citizen  con- 
templates the  spreading  influence  of  his  country. 

When  we  recrossed  the  Bosphorus  we  bade  farewell  to  Asia, 
within  whose  borders  we  had  spent  about  seven  months.  They  have 
been  wonderfully  instructive  months,  and  we  have  enjoyed  the  expe- 
riences through  which  we  have  passed,  but  we  can  not  say  that  we 
have  fallen  in  love  with  Asiatic  food.  We  have  been  afraid  of  the 
raw  vegetables;  we  have  distrusted  the  water,  unless  it  was  boiled, 
and  we  have  sometimes  been  skeptical  about  the  meat.  The  butter  has 
not  always  looked  inviting,  and  our  fondness  for  cream  has  not  been 
increased  by  the  sight  of  the  goats  driven  from  door  to  door  and  milked 


THE    BYZANTINE    CAPITAL 


375 


in  the  presence  of  the  purchaser.  The  bread  was  not  a  rival  for  the 
Vienna  brand,  and  the  cooking  has  not  been  up  to  western  standards. 
But  the  hen — long  life  to  her!  She  has  been  our  constant  friend.  When 
all  else  failed  we  could  fall  back  upon  the  boiled  egg  with  a  sense  of 
security  and  a  feeling  of  satisfaction.  If  1  am  not  henceforth  a 
poultry  fancier  in  the  technical  sense  of  the  term,-  I  shall  return 
with  an  increased  respect  for  the  common,  everyday  barnyard  fowl. 
There  are  many  differences  between  the  east  and  the  west — difference 
in  race  characteristics,  differences  in  costume,  differences  in  ideals 
of  life,  of  government  and  religion,  but  we  ;ill  meet  at  the  breakfast 
table — the  egg,  like  "a  touch  of  nature,  makes  the  whole  world  kin." 


AT  THE  WORLD  S  BREAKFAST  TABLE. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  TURK. 

1  was  unable  to  crowd  into  the  last  article  all  of  our  experiences 
in  the  land  of  the  Turk,  so  I  devoted  it  to  Constantinople,  leaving 
to  this  paper  the  discussion  of  the  .sultan,  his  religion  and  his  govern- 
ment. Abdul  Ilamud  Kahn  II.,  is  the  present  sultan  of  Turkey.  He 
is  .-ixty-three  years  old  and  has  occupied  the  throne  for  nearly  thirty 
years.  His  family  has  been  supreme  in  Constantinople  for  twenty- 
four  generations — ever  since  the  taking  of  the  city  by  the  Moham- 
medans. He  is  not  onlv  an  absolute  monarch  throughout  the  domain 
of  Turkey,  but  he  is  the  spiritual  head  of  the  Moslem  Church.  His 
power  is  really  due  more  to  his  religious  position  than  to  his  sover- 
eignty. He  is  credited  with  doing  more  for  the  spread  of  education 
than  his  predecessors,  but  he  can  hardly  be  called  an  enthusiastic 
patron  of  learning.  He  endeavors  to  maintain  cordial  relations  with 
European  powers  and  is  on  especially  good  terms  with  Emperor 
William.  "When  he  wants  to  show  himself  friendly  to  a  nation  he 
appoints  some  representative  of  that  nation  to'  a' place  in  the  army. 
navy  or  other  department  of  the  public  service  at  'a  high  salary,  and 
he  gives  decorations  to  such  foreigners  as  he  desires  to  honor. 

Every  Friday  about  midday  he  goes  to  the  mosque  near  the  palace  to 
pray  and  the  occasion  is  one  of  great  interest  to  those  who  are  fortu- 
nate enough  to  obtain  admission  to  the  grounds,  as  his  journey  from 
the  palace  to  the  church  is  a  brilliant  pageant.  Tickets  of  admission 
must  be  secured  through  the  diplomatic  representatives,  and  we  are 
under  obligations  to  the  American  legation  for  an  opportunity  to  be 
present. 

As  early  as  eleven  o'clock,  bands,  companies  of  infantry,  troops  of 
cavalry  and  bodies  of  police  could  be  seen  marching  toward  the 
mosque.  From  the  right,  over  a  hill,  came  the  cavalry  mounted  on 
white  horses  and  carrying  pennants  of  scarlet  upon  their  spears;  from 
another  direction  marched  the  custodians  of  the  sacred  banner,  a 
flag  of  black   silk  with   texts   from   the  Koran   embroidered  upon  it 

376 


IN    THE    LAND    OF    THE    TURK  377 

in  silver,  then  others  and  still  others  came.  Before  -time  for  the  sultan 
to  appear  several  thousand  soldiers  had  assembled  and  been  assigned  bo 
their  respective  stations  by  officers  in  attractive  uniforms.  Drawn 
up  several  lines  deep,  they  guarded  every  entrance  to  the  sacred 
precincts. 

It  was  a  gorgeous  spectacle,  for  -the  Turk  is  a  line  looking  soldier. 
This  may  account  for  the 'tenderness  with  which  the  sultan  is  handled 
by  the  "powers."  And  there  is  sufficient  variety  in  the  uniforms  to 
lend  pioturesqueness  to  the  scene.  The  invited  guests  occupied  a  large 
front  room  and  an  adjoining  garden,  from  which  they  had  a  clear 
view  of 'the  broad  street,  freshly  sprinkled  with  sand,  and  of  the  mosque 
about  a  block  away.  W'hen  all  things  were  in  readiness  the  castle 
gates  swung  open  'and  the  ladies  of  the  court,  closely  veiled  and  accom- 
panied by  the  children,  proceeded  to  the  mosque  in  closed  carriages 
drawn  by  beautiful  Arabian  horses.  As  usual  in  Oriental  countries, 
the  members  of  the  household  were  attended  by  black   eunuchs. 

At  the  appointed  hour  a  black  robed  figure  appeared  upon  the 
minaret  and  an  echo-like  call  to  prayer  floated  down  the  street.  This 
was  the  signal  for  which  the  spectators  had  waited  and  all  eyes  tinned 
at  once  to  the  palace  gate  through  which,  in  double  line,  marched 
the  high  officials,  preceded  by  a  band  and  followed  by  the  sultan's 
bodyguard  and  the  sultan  himself  in  a  carriage  with  his  minister 
of  war.  The  officers  saluted,  the  soldiers  cheered,  the  visitors  raised 
their  hats,  and  the  sultan  bowed  and  smiled. 

Hamud  II.  is  mild  in  appearance  and  his  black  beard  is  but  slightly 
streaked  with  grey.  He  does  not  look  strong  and  his  figure  seems 
diminutive  when  contrasted  with  that  'of  his  minister  of  war.  His 
imperial  majesty,  as  he  is  styled,  remained  in  the  mosque  for  nearly 
half  an  hour.  When  he  at  last  came  out  he  entered  a  phaeton  with  his 
eldest  son  and,  taking  the  lines  himself,  drove  back  to  the  palace  behind 
one  of  the  handsomest  teams  in  Europe.  The  horses  'are  a  very  dark, 
almost  black,  dappled  chestnut  sorrel,  with  silver  mane  and  tail.  They 
are  perfectly  matched,  weigh  thirteen  or  fourteen  hundred  pounds 
and  the  shining  coats  give  evidence  of  constant  care. 

We  obtained  permission  to  visit  the  sultan's  stables  and  saw  a  few. 
not  all,  of  his  more  than  a  thousand  horses.  The  finest,  of  course,  are 
the  Arabian  stallions,  of  which  he  has  quite  a  number,  the  best  of  the 
breed.  In  one  room  we  saw  a  hundred  or  more  saddles  and  bridle-, 
many  of  them  richly  ornamented.  In  the  collection  are  two  Texas 
saddles  presented  by  Minister  Terrell  when  he  represented  our  govern- 
ment in  Constantinople. 


378 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Before  passing  from  the  "Selamlik,  as  the  procession  is  called,  it  may 
not  be  out  of  place  to  remind  <the  reader  that  the  ceremonies  were 
interrupted  less  than  a  year  ago  by  the  explosion  of  a  bomb  close 
to  the  line  of  march.  Near  the  mosque  is  a  large  gate  which  the  pro- 
cession passes.  Outside  of  this  gate  a  guard  is  stationed,  but  car- 
riages are  allowed  to  line  up  back  of  the  guard.  On  that  occasion 
a  new  carriage  made  its  appearance  and  secured  a  place  as  near  the 
gate  as  was  permitted.  This  carriage,  having  been  expressly  built 
for  the  purpose,  had  a  large  bomb  concealed  under  the  driver's  seat. 


SONS   OF    THE   SULTAN. 


The  man  in  charge  of  the  enterprise  represented  to  the  driver  that 
he  wanted  to  take  a  photograph  of  the  procession  just  as  the  sultan 
passed,  and  instructed  him  to  press  the  button  at  the  proper  time. 
He  did  so  and  a  number  of  those  near  the  sultan  were  killed,  but  the 
sultan  himself  escaped  without  injury.  Greater  precaution  is  taken  now 
than  before,  but  the  head  of  the  church  still  makes  his  weekly  pil- 
grimage to  the  mosque,  thus  maintaining  unbroken  a  record  covering 
nearly  three  decades. 

I  hope  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  giving  so  much  space  to  so  military 


IN    THE    LAND    OF    THE    TURK  379 

and  spectacular  a  performance,  but  it  is  a  scene  that  can  be  witnessed 
nowhere  else  and  is  the  last  reminder  of  the  pomp  and  show  that 
formerly  characterized  all  the  empires  of  the  east.  It  may  seem  a 
little  incongruous  that  so  many  swords  and  muskets  should  be  brought 
into  requisition  at  a  religious  function,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Mohammedanism  recognizes  the  sword  as  a,  Legitimate  agency 
in  the  spread  of  its  creed. 

I  have  been  tempted  to  refer  to  the  tenets  of  Mohammedanism 
before,  for  we  began  to  meet  the  followers  of  the  prophet  as  soon  as 
we  entered  Asia,  but  it  seemed  more  appropriate  in  consider  the  subject 
in  connection  with  the  high  personage  who  combines  the  authority 
of  a  temporal  ruler  with  the  dignity  of  Caliph. 

The  Koran  is  the  book  of  the  law  and  the  Moslem  is  not  permitted 
to  doubt  its  plenary  inspiration.  After  Mahomet  announced  that  he 
had  been  selected  as  a  messenger  of  the  Lord  and  commissioned  to 
preach  he  began  giving  out  what  he  declared  to  be  revelations.  They 
read  as  commands  to  him  to  "speak"  and  to  "say."  His  central  idea 
was  the  unity  of  God  and  his  special  mission  the  overthrow  of  idolatry. 
He  emphasized  the  resurrection  of  the  body  and  the  Koran  is  full  of 
promises  to  the  faithful  and  as  full  of  threats  against  the  infidel.  In 
the  Koran  God  is  quoted  as  promising:  "For  those  who  are  devout 
are  prepared  with  their  Lord  gardens  through  which  rivers  flow; 
therein  shall  they  continue  forever;  and  they  shall  enjoy  wives  free 
from  impurity  and  the  favor  of  God."  For  the  infidel,  which  includes 
all  who  do  not  accept  the  prophet,  the  following  punishment  is 
threatened:  "Verily,  those  who  disbelieve  our  signs,  we  will  surely 
cast  to  be  broiled  in  hell  fire;  so  often  as  their  skin  shall  be  well 
burned,  we  will  give  them  other  skins  in  exchange,  that  they  may 
taste  the  sharper  punishment;  for  God  is  mighty  and  wise." 

Through  the  Koran  he  not  only  credited  God  with  the  creation 
and  with  a  care  for  all  the  wants  of  man,  but  he  also  declared  that 
God  deceived  and  misled  some  while  He  guided  others  aright.  In  one 
revelation  he  makes  God  say:  "They  who  accuse  'our  signs  of  false- 
hood, are  deaf  and  dumb,  walking  in  darkness;  God  will  lead  into 
error  whom  He  pleaseth,  and  whom  He  pleaseth  He  will  put  in  the 
right  way." 

He  accepted  the  Old  Testament  and  counted  Christ  among  the 
prophets.  In  one  of  the  revelations,  he  declares  that  he  is  commanded 
to  say:  "We  believe  in  God  and  that  which  hath  been  sent  down  unto 
us,  and  that  which  hath  been  sent  down  unto  Abraham,  and  Ishmael 
and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  the  tribes,  and  that  which  was  delivered 


380  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

unto  Moses,  and  Jesus,  and  that  which  was  delivered  unto  the  prophet-; 
from  their  Lord;  we  make  no  distinction  between  any  of  them  and  to 
God  we  are  resigned."  In  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  his  "revela- 
tion.- were  friendly  to  the  Jews,  whom  he  at  first  attempted  to  con- 
ciliate, but  when  they  rejected  him,  he  gave  out  other  revelations  which 
treated  the  Jews  with  great  severity.  He  started  out  to  rely  upon 
reason  and  an  appeal  to  conscience,  and  by  persuasion  he  formed  the 
nucleus  of  his  church,  but  as  he  grew  stronger  his  revelations  became 
more  warlike  in  tone  and  at  last  he  committed  the  Almighty  to  relent- 
less warfare  against  the  infidel.  Here  is  the  language  which  he  im- 
putes to  God:  "0  Prophet,  wage  war  against  the  unbelievers  and  the 
hypocrites,  and  be  severe  unto  them,  for  their  dwelling  shall  be  hell : 
an  unhappy  journey  shall  it  be  thither!"  At  another  time,  he  told 
his  followers  that  they  would  be  asked  whether  it  was  proper  to  war 
in  the  sacred  month  and  he  instructed  them  to  answer:  "The  tempta- 
tion to  idolatry  is  more  grievous  than  to  kill  in  the  sacred  months." 

On  many  questions  the  advice  which  he  gave  through  the  Koran 
was  all  that  could  be  desired.  He  urged  justice  in  dealings  between 
man  and  man  and  strict  administration  of  trusts,  care  for  the  orphan 
and  widow  and  charity  toward  the  poor.  He  condemned  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating liquor  and  gambling,  saying:  "They  will  ask  thee  concern- 
ing wine  and  lots;  answer,  in  both  'there  is  great  sin,  and  also  some 
things  of  use  unto  men;  but  their  sinfulness  is  greater  than  their  use." 
As  to  alms-giving  the  measure  was  to  be,  "what  ye  have  to  spare." 

While  plurality  of  wives  was  allowed — and  Mahomet  exercised  the 
privilege  to  the  limit,  furnishing  a  new  revelation  when  necessary  to 
justify  a  new  marriage — the  virtue  of  the  women  is  scrupulously 
guarded  by  the  Moslem  code.  The  women  are  not  allowed  to  mingle 
with  men,  and  this  is  one  of  the  weaknesses  of  Mohammedanism.  In 
Mohammedan  society  the  influence  of  women  'counts  for  little  and 
as  a  result  the  followers  of  Islam  are  sluggards  in  intellectual  pursuit.-. 
In  the  Philippines  the  Mohammedans  form  the  lowest  stratum  of  the 
population  :  in  Java  they  are  just  awakening  to  the  necessity  for  edu- 
cation; in  India  they  are  behind  the  Hindu  and  still  farther  behind 
the  Parsee;  in  Egypt  they  bring  up  the  rear  as  they  do  also  in  Syria 
and  Palestine.  Only  where  they 'have  come  into  contact  with  Christian 
civilization  have  they  been  stimulated  to  the  discussion  of  schools  and 
questions  of  governinent. 

Tt  musl  be  'admitted,  however,  that  some  of  the  customs  of  Europe 

and   America   have  tended    to    prejudice    the  followers  of  Mahomet 

n.-t  western  civilization.  One  who  was  in  attendance  at  a  banquet 


6 

M 


03 


Till-:    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

n  during  the  recent  Morocco  conference  told  me  of  the  astonish- 
ment of  some  of  the  Mohammedan  representatives  at  what  they  saw. 
When  the  ladies  appeared  in  evening  dress  they,  remembering  the 
veiled  ladies  of  their  own  land,  asked:  "Do  your  women  always  dress 
this  way?*'  When  wine  was  brought  on,  they  asked:  "Do  all  of  your 
people  drink  wine?"  And  when,  after  dinner,  dancing  began,  they 
a.>ked:  "Do  the  women  dance  with  their  own  husbands  only?"  The 
answers  to  some  of  these  inquiries  seemed  to  astonish  them. 

While  Mohammedanism,  as  established  by  its  founder,  still  holds 
tin-  allegiance  of  many  scores  of  millions,  influencing  them  for  good 
in  many  respects  and  for  evil  in  some;  while  these  orthodox  followers 
of  the  prophet  kneel  at  stated  hours  each  day  and  pray  toward  Mecca, 
all  of  them,  who  have  not  done  so,  hoping  to  make  the  pilgrimage 
commanded"  of  them — while  these  'are  keeping  the  letter  of  the  Koran 
there  is  a  reform  at  work  which  may  yet  leaven  the  whole  lump. 

Abbas  Effendi,  now  a  political  prisoner  .at  Akka,  in  Palestine,  is  the 
head  of  the  reform  .movement.  He  was  born  in  Persia  and  is  carrying 
on  tin'  work  to  which  his  father  and  grandfather  devoted  their  lives. 
He  discards  force  as  a  means  of  propagating  truth,  and  while  he  does 
not  command  monogamy,  has  set  the  example  by  having  but  one  wife. 
While  Abbas  Effendrs  father  preached  moral  suasion  his  followers 
were  charged  with  revolutionary  designs  and  the  family  was  exiled. 
After  remaining  a  time  <at  Constantinople  under  the  surveillance  of 
the  sultan,  the  reform  leaders  were  removed  to  Akka,  a  seaport  not  far 
from  Haifa.  Here,  surrounded  by  few  followers,  the  son  holds  such 
communication  as  he  can  with  the  rest  -of  the  church  in  Persia,  his 
doctrines  having  as  yet  taken  but  little  root  among  the  Turks  and 
A  Talis.  It  is  believed  in  Akka  that  he  receives  financial  aid  from  a 
number  of  wealthy  Americans  who  have  become  interested  in  his 
work. 

We  called  upon  Abbas  Effe'ndi  as  we  were  leaving  Palestine  and 
found  him  an  earnest  old  man  with  a  careworn  but  kindly  face.  His 
hair  and  beard  are  grey  and  he  speaks  with  animation  when  his  fa- 
vorite topic  is  under  discussion.  His  doctrines  are  something  like 
those  of  Tolstoy,  but  he  does  not  cam1:  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance 
so  far  as  does  the  Russian  philosopher.  How  much  he  may  be  able 
to  do  in  the  way  of  eliminating  the  objectionable  features  of  Moham- 
medanism no  one  can  say,  but  it  is  a  hopeful  sign  that  there  is  among 
the  followers  of  Mahomet  an  organized  effort  to  raise  the  plane  of 
discussion  from  brute  force  to  an  appeal  to  intelligence. 

The  government  of  the  sultan  is  the  worst  on  earth.     It  is  more 


IN    THE    LAND    OF    THE    TURK  883 

despotic  than  the  Russian  government  ever  was  and  add.-  corruption 
to  despotism.  The  czar  has  convoked  a  duma,  the  dowager  empress 
of  China  has  sent  her  -commissioners  abroad  with  a  view  to  establish- 
ing a  constitution,  and  even  the  khedive  of  Egypt  has  a  council,  but 
the  sultan  still  rules  by  his  arbitrary  will,  taking  life  or  granting 
favor  according  to  his  pleasure.  He  lives  in  constant  fear  of  assassi- 
nation and  yet  he  does  not  seem  to  have  learned  that  his  own  happi- 
ness, as  well  as  justice  to  the  people,  demands  that  the  government 
shall  rest  upon  the  will  of  the  governed. 

While  in  the  sultan's  realm,  we  learned  something  of  the  cruelty 
practiced  by  his  officials — let  us  hope  without  his  knowledge — for  while 
he  is  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  his  appointees  he  may  not  know 
all  the  evil  done  in  his  name.  Not  long  ago  a  young  student  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned  because  a  paper  was  found  in  his  house 
which  contained  Gladstone's  statement  that  the  sultan  was  an  assas- 
sin. It  was  only  a  scrap  of  paper  and  had  been  given  him  because 
the  other  side  contained  an  advertisement  for  a  hair  restorer  and  he, 
in  taking  the  paper  to  his  house,  did  not  know  of  the  offensive  quota- 
tion. Another  young  man  was  kept  in  prison  until  he  died  because 
a  book  was  found  in  his  possession  containing  a  picture  of  the  sultan 
under  which  some  one,  unknown  to  him,  had  written  the  word  dog. 
A  third  man  was  arrested  because  in  ordering  an  engine  he  sent  a  tele- 
gram containing  the  words:  "Seventy  revolutions."  In  his  original 
order  he  neglected  to  state  the  number  of  revolutions  and  sent  the 
telegram  in  answer  to  an  inquiry.  A  fourth  man  was  imprisoned 
because  he  received  a  telegram  inquiring  about  a  burglary,  the  au- 
thorities mistaking  the  word  "burglary"  for  the  word  "Bulgaria."' 
where  the  authorities  were  expecting  an  uprising.  These  instance-; — 
and  we  heard  of  many  more — are  given  simply  to  show  that  the  citi- 
zen of  Turkey  is  in  constant  danger  of  imprisonment,  however  inno- 
cent he  may  be  of  any  intention  to  violate  the  law. 

But  it  is  in  the  realm  of  the  censor  that  the  most  amusing  cases 
have  occurred.  The  officials  are  destroying  a  great  many  books  just 
now  in  Turkey  and  are  very  'careful  about  the  introduction  of  new 
ones.  Recently  th^  wife  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  frightened  by  the 
confiscation  of  books  in  the  houses  of  her  neighbors,  thought  to  avoid 
all  possible  danger  by  burning  her  husband's  library,  but  her  hope 
was  vain  for  her  husband  was  arrested  as  a  dangerous  character  on  the 
ground  that  he  must  have  had  a  library.  As  he  was  holding  a  judicial 
position  the  fact  that  he  no  longer  had  books  was  a  sufficient  ground 
for  suspicion. 

Religious  publications  are  subjected  to  very  strict  censorship.  Sun- 


384  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

day  school  lessons  have  been  cut  out  because  they  quoted  from  the 
Old  Testament  in  regard  to  the  killing  of  king.-  and  the  word  ''Chris- 
tian" is  often  added  before  sinners  in  order  to  make  the  text  exclude 
Mohammedans.  A  Sunday  school  lesson  about  Joash,  the  Boy  King, 
was  objected  to  because  the  authorities  did  not  (think  it  proper  to  sug- 
gesl  that  a  boy  could  be  king.  The  above  are  actual  cases,  but  they 
have  given  rise  to  jokes  that  go  a  little  farther.  For  instance,  they  say 
i hat  dynamos  are  not  allowed  in  Turkey  because  the  name  sounds 
like  dynamite  and  that  chemistries  have  been  excluded  because  the 
formula  for  water,  "B>0,"  is  suspected  of  meaning,  "Hamud  II  is  a 
cypher." 

I  have  had  a  little  experience  with  a  'censor  'myself.  At  Beyrout, 
one  of  the  Turkish  ports,  a  copy  of  the  Koran  and  a  copy  of  the  Life 
of  Abbas  Effendi  were  taken  from  me  by  the  censor.  I  had  no  objec- 
tion to  his  holding  them  during  my  stay  in  the  country,  but  when  he 
informed  me  that  they  would  have  to  be  sent  to  Constantinople  I 
demurred,  and  with  the  aid  of  our  representative,  Consul  General 
Bergholz,  not  only  secured  the  books,  but  secured  a  promise  that  the 
right  of  American  citizens  to  carry  books  would  not  in  the  future  be 
interfered  with  at  that  port. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  add  that  we  ought  to  have  an  ambassador 
instead  of  a  minister  at  Constantinople.  According  to  the  custom 
prevailing  in  the  sultan's  realm,  a  minister  is  not  on  equal  footing 
with  embassadors,  and  as  other  nations  have  ambassadors  there  Ameri- 
can interests  suffer.  We  have  eighteen  cases  now  awaiting  adjust- 
ment. According  to  our  law  our  appointment  of  an  ambassador  to 
any  country  depends  upon  that  country's  willingness  to  send  an  am- 
bassador to  us.  This  is  a  false  basis.  Our  action  should  not  depend 
upon  what  other  nations  do,  but  upon  our  diplomatic  needs,  and  we 
need  an  ambassador  at  Constantinople  whether  Turkey  needs  one  at 
Washington  or  not.  I  understand  that  the  question  is  already  being 
considered  in  congress,  and  from  observation  I  am  satisfied  that  the 
time  h;i.~  come  for  the  raising  of  our  legation  to  the  dignity  of  an  em- 
bassy, that  American  interests  and  the  rights  of  American  citizens  may 
have  proper  protection  in  Turkey,  for  nowhere  is  there  greater  need 
for  the  introduction  of  American  ideas.* 


*Since  the  writing  of  this  article  an  embassy  has  been  established  at  Constan- 
tinople. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

HUNGARY  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS. 

Southeastern  Europe  is  out  of  the  line  of  travel  and  little  known 
to  us,  if  I  can  measure  the  knowledge  of  others  by  my  own.  In  order 
to  learn  something  of  this  section  we  came  northwest  from  Constanti- 
nople through  Bulgaria,  Servia  and  Hungary.  We  passed  through 
European  Turkey  in  the  night,  and  morning  found  us  in  Bulgaria, 
where  nothing  but  an  occasional  minaret  remained  to  remind  us  of 
the  Orient.  Strange  that  so  great  a  difference  exists  between  two 
populations  separated  for  centuries  by  nothing  but  an  imaginary  line. 
No  more  the  Turk  with  his  wealth  of  leisure,  his  baggy  trousers  and 
his  gay  headgear,  but  the  sturdy  peasant  working  in  the  field  with 
his  unveiled  wife  or  trudging  along  the  road  carrying  his  produce  to 
market;  no  more  begging  for  baksheesh  by  lame  and  halt  and  blind, 
but  a  busy,  industrious  throng,  each  laboring  apparently  with  a  pur- 
pose and  a  hope.  All  day  long  we  rode  past  well  cultivated 
fields  and  tidy  villages.  The  Bulgarians,  judged  by  appearance, 
might  be  thought  a  mixture  of  German  and  Italian,  but  they  are 
really  Slavic  in  their  origin.  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet 
a  former  minister,  a  very  intelligent  man  with  a  good  command  of 
English,  and  learned  from  him  that  there  is  a  strong  democratic 
sentiment  in  that  country  and  that  the  people  are  making  constant 
progress  in  the  matter  of  education  and  political  intelligence. 

He  said  that  during  his  ministry  he  had  introduced  into  Bulgaria 
the  American  homestead  law  and  that  it  had  resulted  in  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  peasant  proprietors.  It  was  gratifying  to  know 
that  American  example  had  been  helpful  to  people  so  remote  from 
us.  He  also  spoke  of  the  establishment  in  his  country  of  state  insur- 
ance against  hail,  that  being  one  of  the  greatest  perils  the  farmer  has 
to  meet.  He  said  that  the  system  had  worked  well.  The  railroads 
and  telegraph  lines  are  also  owned  by  the  state  in  Bulgaria  and  are 
operated  very  successfully. 

The  capital,  Sofia,  is  a  prosperous  looking  city,  viewed  from  the  rail- 
road, and  has  an  elevation  of  some  fifteen  hundred  feet. 

385 


386  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

We  crossed  the  Balkan  mountains  and  the  second  morning  reached 
Belgrade,  the  capital  of  Servia.  The  city  has  a  fine  location  on  a 
bluff  at  the  junction  of  the  Save  with  the  Danube.  A  day"-  visit  here 
gave  an  opportunity  to  see  something  of  the  population,  as  it  waa 
Sunday  and  the  streets  and  parks  were  filled  with  well-dressed,  well- 
behaved  and  intelligent  looking  people.  The  Servians,  who  are  also 
Slavic  in  origin,  are  members  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  at  the 
principal  church  of  this  denomination  there  was  that  day  a  large 
congregation  and  an  impressive  service.  King  Peter,  it  will  be 
remembered,  is  the  present  ruler,  having  been  called  to  the  throne 
three  years  ago  when  his  predecessor  was  assassinated.  The  brutalities 
attending  the  murder  of  King  Alexander  and  his  wife  were  widely 
discussed  at  the  time,  the  bodies  of  the  king  and  queen  being  thrown 
from  the  window  of  the  palace  into  the  park.  While  the  new  sovereign 
was  recognized  by  most  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  England  refused  to 
send  a  representative  to  his  court  because  the  king  retained  some  high 
officials  who  participated  in  the  assassination.  As  Servia  has  a  parlia^ 
nitiit  which  controls  the  ministry,  and  as  this  parliament  was  hostile 
to  the  former  king,  King  Peter  was  powerless  to  comply  with  the 
conditions  imposed  by  England — at  least  this  was  the  explanation 
given  to  me.  I  heard  next  day  at  Budapest,  however,  that  some  satis- 
factory settlement  had  been  reached  and  that  England  would  soon 
be  represented  at  Belgrade.  King  Peter  is  not  of  humble  ancestry, 
as  I  had  supposed,  but  is  a  grandson  of  a  former  king  who  wa3  con- 
spicuous in  the  war  for  independence.  Peter  himself  was  in  exile 
in  Switzerland  at  the  time  of  his  elevation  to  the  throne,  and  having 
during  his  residence  there  imbibed  something  of  the  spirit  of  consti- 
tutional liberty,  is  much  more  popular  than  was  his  predecessor.  There 
is  quite  a  close  connection  between  Servia,  Roumania,  Bulgaria  and 
European  Turkey,  and  it  will  not  be  surprising  if  the  last  remnant  of 
Turkish  territory  in  Europe  is,  before  many  years,  released  from  the 
sultan's  rule  and  a  federation  of  Balkan  states  created.  A  majority 
of  the  sultan's  European  subjects  belong  to  different  branches  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  but  for  their  quarrels  among  themselves  they 
would  long  before  this  have  been  able  to  imitate  Servia  and  Bulgaria 
in  emancipating  themselves. 

The  ride  up  the  Danube  valley  from  Belgrade  to  Budapest  and 
from  Budapest  to  the  Austrian  boundary  gives  one  a  view  of  one  of 
the  richest  sections  of  Hungary.  While  the  Danube  hardly  justifies 
the  poetic  praise  that  has  described  its  waters  as  blue,  it  is  a  majestic 
stream,  and  its  broad  valley  supports  a  large  agricultural  population. 

No    American   fan    visit  Hungary  without  having  his  sympathies 


3 

d 


H 


3 

3 


3S8 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


enlisted  in  behalf  of  its  people,  for  theirs  is  a  fascinating  history. 
Their  country  is  one  of  the  most  favored  in  Europe  so  far  as  nature's 
blessing's  go.  The  Carpathian  mountains  which  form  a  -wall  around 
it  on  the  north  and  east,  shut  out  the  cold  winds  and  by  turning  back 
the  warmer  winds  from  the  south,  give  to  Hungary  a  more  temperate 
climate  than  other  European  countries  in  the  same  latitude,  and  in  few- 
countries  has  agriculture  been  more  fostered  by  the  state. 

The  present  minister  of  agriculture,  Dr.  Ignatius  Darainyi,  has  been 


A    STREET    IN    BUDAPEST. 

at  the  head  of  this  department  for  ten  years,  and  being  an  enthusiast 
on  the  subject,  he  has  introduced  many  new  features  and  brought 
his  department  into  close  contact  with  the  people.  During  his  admin- 
istration  the  annual  appropriations  for  agriculture  have  increased 
from-  about  eight  million  dollars  to  'about  thirteen  millions,  and  the 
income  from  hi.-  department  has  risen  from  six  million  dollars  to  nine 
millions,  leaving  the  net  cost  to  the  state  at  present  some  four  million 
dollars  per  year. 


HUNGARY    AND    HER   NEIGHBORS  389 

Hungary  believes  in  furnishing  technical  training  to  those  who 
intend  .to  farm;  she  had  twenty-two  industrial  schools,  with  about  six 
hundred  pupils,  and  these  schools  are  so  distributed  as  to  make  them 
convenient  for  the  small  farmers.  She  has  four  secondary  schools  of 
agriculture,  with  a  total  attendance  of  over  five  hundred,  and  to  com- 
plete her  system  she  has  an  agricultural  academy  with  a  student  body 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty.  In  order  to  accommodate  adults  who  have 
not  had  the  advantage  of  these  schools,  she  has  short  winter  terms 
and  traveling  instructors.  By  systematic  effort  the  agricultural  depart- 
ment is  not  only  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  Hungarian  as  a  tiller 
of  the  soil,  but  it  is  increasing  his  general  intelligence  and  raising  the 
standard  of  citizenship. 

The  experiment  station  is  also  a  prominent  feature  of  the  work  of 
the  department  of  agriculture.  All  new  agricultural  implements  are 
tested  and  reports  are  furnished  upon  their  merits;  there  are  several 
seed-testing  stations  where  farmers  can  secure  at  cost  price,  not  only 
selected  seeds,  but  seed  shown  by  experiment  to  be  suited  to  the  climate 
and  soil  of  their  locality.  Then  there  are  a  number  of  model  farms 
located  at  convenient  points,  which  are  intended  to  be  object  lessons 
to  the  neighborhoods  in  which  they  are  situated.  At  these  model  farms 
and  at  other  centers  breeding  establishments  are  conducted  where 
horses,  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep  of  the  best  breeds  are  kept  and  loaned 
to  the  farmers  about.  These  breeding  farms  have  resulted  in  a  marked 
improvement  in  the  quality  and  value  of  the  stock. 

Nor  does  the  agricultural  department  confine  its  attention  to  stock 
raising  and  ordinary  farming;  it  is  equally  interested  in  horticulture, 
vine  dressing,  forestry,  and  even  bee  culture.  Government  nurseries 
furnish  the  hardiest  varieties  of  young  trees  and  vines  and  train  those 
who  desire  to  give  special  attention  to  these  branches  of  industry. 
Instruction  in  the  pruning  of  trees  and  the  training  of  vines  has  an 
artistic  as  well  as  a  utilitarian  side,  and  taste  is  developed  in  the 
ornamentation  of  the  arbors  and  gardens.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in 
Europe,  much  attention  is  given  to  forestry,  and  under  the  direction 
of  the  department  of  agriculture  the  work  of  preserving  the  old  foiv.-ts 
and  of  planting  new  groves  is  being  intelligently  and  systematically 
done. 

In  addition  to  the  work  above  outlined,  the  agricultural  department 
has  taken  in  hand  the  matter  of  furnishing  general  information 
to  the  farmers  and  farm  laborers.  'It  encourages  the  formation  of 
workingmen's  clubs,  co-operative  societies  and  parochial  relief  funds. 
It  has  established  more  than  one  thousand  free  libraries  and  publishes 
a  weekly  paper  with  a  circulation  of  about  sixty  thousand.    More  than 


390  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

half  of  the  copies  are  published  in  the  Hungarian  language,  the  rest 
being  divi.led  between  five  other  languages,  the  Slavic  coming  next 
to  the  Hungarian  and  the  German  following,  although  less  than  ten 
per  cent  are  printed  in  the  latter  language.  To  strengthen  the  ties 
between  employers  and  employes,  harvest  feasts  have  been  inaugurated 
and  the  attendance  at  these  feasts  is  yearly  increasing. 

I  have  gone  into  detail  somewhat  in  describing  the  scope  of  the 
work  undertaken  by  the  agricultural  department  of  Hungary  because 
1  think  that  we  might,  with  advantage,  adopt  some  of  its  features. 
Our  national  appropriation  for  agricultural  purposes  bears  a  small 
proportion,  not  only  to  the  amount  of  taxes  paid  by  the  farmer,  but 
to  the  appropriations  made  for  other  departments." 

Budapest,  the  capital  of  Hungary,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  cities 
in  Europe.  In  1896  I  received  a  cablegram  of  congratulation  from  a 
farmers'  congress  which  was  at  that  time  in  session  in  that  city.  I 
remembered  this  because  it  was  the  only  cablegram  received  from  any 
body  of  Europeans  during  the  campaign. 

Originally  there  were  two  cities,  Buda  on  the  south  bank  and  Pesth 
on  the  north  bank,  but  they  were  united  under  one  municipal  govern- 
ment some  years  ago,  the  names  of  the  old  towns  being  preserved  in 
the  new.  The  foothills  of  the  Alps  extend  to  the  very  bank  of  the 
Danube  and  furnish  magnificent  sites  for  villas,  forts,  public  buildings 
and  the  royal  palace,  while  on  the  opposite  bank  there  is  a  byroad 
plain,  which  affords  ample  room  for  the  rapidly  extending  limits  of  the 
commercial  and  manufacturing  sections  of  the  city.  Several  bridges 
connect  Buda  and  Pesth  so  that  the  river,  while  a  great  thoroughfare, 
no  longer  divides  the  business  and  the  official  sections.  The  streets 
of  Budapest  are  wide,  well  paved,  clean  and  lined  with  buildings  quite 
uniform  in  height,  one  of  the  avenues  rivaling  the  Champs-Elysees  in 
Paris  and  Unter  den  Linden  in  Berlin ;  the  parks  are  large  and  near 
the  city;  the  business  blocks  are  imposing  and  the  public  buildings 
models  in  design  and  construction.  The  parliament  building,  only 
recently  completed,  is  one  of  the  handsomest  in  the  world. 

The  Hungarian  people  are  distinct  in  language  and  history  from 
all  their  neighbors.  In  fact,  the  Hungarians  differ  in  many  respects 
from  all  the  other  people  of  Europe,  the  inhabitants  of  Finland  being 
their  nearest  kinspeople.  Their  early  history  is  unknown,  but  they 
came  from  western  Asia  where  the  Mongolians,  the  Turks  and  the 
Finn-Ugrians  struggled  for  mastery  about  the  beginning  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  They  were  first  known  as  Huns  and  claim  Attila  as  one  of 
their  race.  They  have  more  often,  however,  used  the  word  Magyars 
to  describe  their  people,  that  name  being  a  popular  one  at  present. 


392  tup:  old  world  and  its  ways 

Their  occupation  of  the  present  territory  dates  from  about  the  ninth 
century,  since  which  time  they  have  figured  prominently  in  the  history 
of  Europe.  About  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century  Hungary, 
under  the  leadership  of  King  Stephen  (later  known  as  St.  Stephen) 
became  a  Christian  nation,  and  since  that  time  she  has  been  conspic- 
uous in  all  the  religious  wars  of  Europe.  In  the  fifteenth  century  she 
furnished  the  leader  of  the  Christian  army  in  the  person  of  John 
Hunyadi,  one  of  the  greatest  military  geniuses  of  that  period.  His 
prominence  in  war  brought  his  son  Matthias  to  the  throne  of  Hungary, 
a  king  who,  when  warned  of  a  plot  against  his  life,  exclaimed:  "Let 
no  king,  ruling  justly  and  lawfully,  fear  the  poison  and  assassin's 
dagger  of  his  subjects." 

As  early  as  the  thirteenth  century,  Hungary  began  to  inaugurate 
political  reforms,  and  in  1222  her  nobility  ended  a  struggle  of  a 
hundred  years  by  securing  a  concession  which  is  regarded  by  her 
people  as  equal  in  importance  to  England's  Magna  Charta  of  1215. 
It  was  in  the  form  of  a  royal  letter,  issued  by  Andrew  II.  and  called 
the  Golden  Bull,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  seal  attached  to  it  by  a 
silk  string  rests  in  a  box  of  gold.  This  document  contained  certain 
promises  to  the  nobles  and  admitted  the  binding  force  of  certain 
restrictions  upon  the  king.  The  Golden  Bull  was  the  beginning  of 
(•'institutional  government  in  Hungary,  and  while  it  has  not  always 
been  strictly  observed  by  her  rulers,  it  has  served  as  a  basis  for  subse- 
quent negotiations.     For  several  centuries  they  elected  their  kings. 

During  the  nearly  seven  hundred  years  which  have  elapsed  since 
1222  Hungary  has  had  a  checkered  career.  Rival  aspirants  for  the 
throne  have  fought  over  the  succession  and  been  aided  in  their  ambition 
by  neighboring  nations;  kings  and  nobles  have  fought  over  their 
respective  authority;  the  nobility  and  the  peasants  have  fought  over 
their  rights;  different  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  have  been  at 
war  with  each  other,  for  Hungary  has  been  the  eastern  outpost  of 
Protestantism  as  well  as  a  champion  of  Christianity ;  and  more  recently 
Hungary  has  been  fighting  for  her  political  independence.  Hers  has 
i  a  long  drawn-out  struggle  in  which  her  people,  time  and  again, 
have  almosl  been  exterminated,  but  she  emerges  from  it  all  a  strong, 
vigorous  and  militant  nation.  She  is  now  a  part  of  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  empire,  and  her  people  form  the  largest  homogeneous  group  in 
the  empire:  When  Ave  consider  the  numerous  wars  between  Austria 
and  Hungary,  the  difference  in  race,  history  and  language,  and  the 
imilarity  in  political  training,  if  is  not  strange  that  there  should 
!><•  lick  of  harmony  between  the  empire  as  a  whole  and  its  largest 
-ingle  member. 


HUNGARY    AND    HER   NEIGHBORS 


393 


When  Hungary  turned  to  Austria  for  help  against  the  Turks  and 
came  under  the   Hapsburg  line,  she  insisted  upon  a  recognition  of 

her  national  rights  and 
secured  a  promise  tlml 
her  people  should  have 
control  of  their  own 
affairs.  While  this  al- 
liance did  not  save  her 
from  the  Mohamme- 
dans, it  united  her  des- 
tiny to  that  of  Austria, 
but  she  lias  never  sur- 
rendered her  independ- 
ence. The  crown  of 
Hungary  has  always 
been  distinct  from  that 
of  Austria,  and  the  em- 
peror of  Austro-Hnn- 
gary  must  visit  Buda- 
pest and  receive  with 
the  crown  of  St.  Ste- 
phen the  title  of  king 
of  Hungary.  Joseph 
II.,  son  of  the  beloved 
Maria  Theresa,  was  the 
first  king  to  refuse  to 
receive  the  crown  and 
swear  fidelity  to  the 
Hungarian  constitu- 
tion, and  the  Hungarians  would  never  call  him  their  "crowned  king" 
until,  on  his  deathbed,  he  retracted  his  arbitrary  measures  and  per- 
mitted the  restoration  of  the  constitution. 

In  her  struggle  for  liberty  Hungary  has  developed  many  patriot-, 
among  whom  Louis  Kossuth  is  the  best  known.  He  and  Francis  Deak 
were  the  leaders  of  the  revolution  of  1848  which  resulted  in  the  con- 
stitution of  that  year.  The  constitution  of  1867  was  not  quite  so  liberal, 
and  these  two  constitutions  form  the  basis  of  the  present  political 
division  in  Hungary;  all  Hungarians  are  jealous  of  the  rights  of  their 
nation  but  the  majority  of  the  members  of  parliament  insisi  upon  the 
recognition  of  the  constitution  of  1848. 

The  elder  Kossuth  lived  in  exile  after  the  revolution  of  1807  and 
was  during  his  exile    enthusiastically  received  in   the  United  States 


PRIME    MINISTER    WEKERLE HUNGARY 


?<U 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


by  congress  and  by  the  people  in  general.  Kossuth's  son  is  now  a 
member  of  the  coalition  ministry,  and  at  a  banquet  to  which  I  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  invited,  spoke  feelingly  of  the  treatment  which 
his  father  received  in  the  United  States  and  of  the  high  regard  felt 
by  Hungarians  for 
America  and  Ameri- 
cans.  Count  Apponyi, 
the  foremost  orator  of 
Hungary,  also  paid  his 
respects  to  the  Lnited 
States  and  likened  our 
country  to  the  forward- 
ing station  in  wireless 
telegraphy,  saying  that 
the  political  current 
was  so  strong  in  our 
country  that  its  mes- 
sages were  carried  to  all 
the  world. 

I  happened  to  be  in 
Budapest  at  the  open- 
ing of  parliament  and 
heard  the  speech  of  the 
new  premier,  Dr.  We- 
kerle.  The  independ- 
ence  party  has  a  large 
majority  in  the  parlia- 
ment, having  shown 
increasing  strength  at 
each  successive  election. 
The    emperor,    Francis 

Joseph,  is  resisting  one  of  the  demands  made  by  the  Hungarians,  viz., 
that  the  army  shall  use  the  Hungarian  language  instead  of  the  German 
language.  Some  years  ago  the  fight  was  made  and  won  for  the  use 
of  the  Hungarian  language  in  schools,  in  the  courts  and  in  parliament, 
and  the  Hungarians  feel  that  their  nationality  is  endangered  by  the 
fad  that  their  army  is  taught  only  the  German  words  of  command. 
The  emperor  takes  the  position  that  the  use  of  the  Hungarian  language 
would  destroy  the  unity  of  the  imperial  army.  To  prevent  a  rupture 
he  proposed  the  formation  of  a  coalition  cabinet,  to  hold  until  the 
-nffrage  could  be  extended  and  the  question  again  submitted  to  the 
people.     There  is  no  doubt  that  the  people  are  practically  unanimous 


COUNT   APPONYI 


HUNGARY    AND    HER   NEIGHBORS 


395 


in  favor  of  their  own  language  and  that  an  extension  of  the  suffrage 
will  not  change  the  complexion  of  parliament.    The  relations  between 

i  lie  emperor  and 
Hungary  have  be- 
come very  much. 
3trained,  and  the 
aversion  to  the  Ger- 
man language  is  so 
pronounced  that 
1 1 1 1 1 1  garians  who  can 
speak  the  German 
language  wrill  often 
refuse  to  answer  a 
question  addressed  to 
them  in  German. 
For  Francis  Joseph 
himself  the  Hunga- 
rians have  a  strong 
affection,  and  they 
would  be  glad  to  con- 
tribute  to  the  happi- 
ness of  his  closing 
days,  but  they  feel 
that  the  interests  of 
their  nation  are  vi- 
tally concerned  and 
they  are  anxious  to 
have  the  point  at  is- 
minister  kossuth.  sue   settled  before   a 

new  sovereign  ascends  the  throne.  If  the  emperor  were  left  to  himself, 
he  would  probably  conclude  that  a  Hungarian  fighting  force,  at- 
tached to  the  empire  and  grateful  fur  consideration  shown  their  coun- 
try, would  form  a  more  effective  part  of  a  joint  army,  even  though  the 
Hungarians  spoke  their  own  language,  than  troops  compelled  to  learn 
a  language  hateful  to  them.  History  furnishes  many  examples  of 
successful  armies  made  of  corps,  divisions  and  regiments  speaking 
different  languages,  but  less  numerous  arc  the  instances  of  nations 
successfully  held  together  by  force  when  one  part  of  the  empire  was 
made  subservient  to  the  interests  of  another  part.  Hungary  is  being 
alienated  by  insistence  upon  requirements  which  do  not  in  reality 
strengthen  the  empire,  while  she  might  be  drawn  closer  to  the  throne 
by  a  more  liberal  policy.     The  end  is  not  yet. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  attitude  of  Hungary,  in  the 
article  on  Hungary  and  Her  Neighbors,  toward  Austria,  and  what  is 
true  of  Hungary  is  to  a  less  extent  true  of  Bohemia  and  the  Polish 
section  of  the  empire.  In  fact,  Austria-Hungary  is  held  together  by  a 
rope  of  sand,  and  there  is  no  telling  when  that  rope  may  break.  It 
required  the  aid  of  Russia  to  hold  Hungary  within  the  empire  a  half 
century  ago,  and  now  that  Russia  is  no  longer  in  position  to  bolster 
up  the  Hapsburg  house,  the  outlook  is  not  bright  for  the  family  of 
Francis  Joseph,  unless  the  friendship  of  Emperor  William  takes  the 
form  of  armed  assistance.  I  mention  this  because  the  anti- Austrian 
feeling  in  Hungary,  the  anti-Hungarian  feeling  in  Austria,  the  aversion 
to  the  German  language  in  Bohemia,  and  the  demands  of  the  Polish 
subjects,  not  to  speak  of  disaffection  ebewhere,  all  point  to  trouble 
ahead  for  the  ruler  of  Austria-Hungary.  I  visited  Bohemia  with  a 
view  to  gathering  information  on  the  situation  and  was  surprised  to 
find  the  hostility  between  the  German  and  Bohemian  elements.  A 
half  century  ago  the  German  language  was  spoken  everywhere  in 
Bohemia,  but  to-day  the  Germans  and  Bohemians  have  separate  schools 
and,  except  where  business  interest  compels  it  neither  learns  the  lan- 
guage of  the  other.  So  strong  is  the  feeling  that  a  Bohemian,  desiring 
to  master  the  German  language,  would,  if  financially  able,  study  it  out- 
side of  Bohemia  in  preference  to  attending  a  German  school  in  his 
own  country. 

It  is  a  great  misfortune  to  the  people  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  as 
well  as  to  the  imperial  government,  that  this  hostility  to  the  German 
language  has  become  so  bitter,  for  the  German  is  one  of  the  great  lan- 
guages of  the  earth,  being  the  spoken  tongue  of  more  than  fifty  millions 
and  containing  in  printed  form  most  of  the  literary  treasures  of  the 
world.     The  German  libraries  are  rich  in  treatises  on  science  and  art, 

tory  and  philosophy,  government  and  religion,  and  these  should  be 
within  reach  of  the  people  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia.  Whatever  may  be 
the  merits  of  the  Magyar  and  the  Czech  languages,  they  are  spoken  by 
-o  few,  comparatively,  that  they  can  not  possibly  furnish  so  large  a 
-tore  of  learning  as  the  German  language  contains. 

396 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY  397 

The  Austrian  government,  however,  has  itself  to  blame  for  the 
estrangement;  for,  instead  of  attempting  to  win  the  affections  of  the 
alien  people  made  subject  to  it,  it  attempted  to  coerce  them,  with  the 
usual  result.  Resentment  toward  the  rulers  soon  turned  into  resent- 
ment toward  the  language,  and  it  became  patriotic  to  abhor  a  tongue 
which  it  would  have  been  advantageous  to  cultivate  Human  nature 
is  the  same  everywhere,  but  kings  seem  to  be  as  ignorant  of  it  as  they 
are  of  the  lessons  of  history. 

The  Austria-Hungary  empire  can  not  exist  long  under  its  present 
regime;  if  it  is  to  continue,  the  bond  of  union  must  be  a  substantial 
one  and  no  bond  of  union  Is  substantial  that  does  not  knit  itself  about 
the  hearts  of  both  parties  to  the  union.  There  are  certain  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  the  association  of  several  small  states  together,  but 
these  advantages  can  not  be  weighed  against  fundamental  rights  or 
against  a  strong  national  sentiment.  Cold,  calculating  statesmen  some- 
times underestimate  the  influence  of  sentiment,  but  they  usually  dis- 
cover their  error,  sometimes  too  late,  if  they  attempt  to  trample  upon  it. 
Austria-Hungary  as  a  federation  of  states,  each  absolutely  independ- 
ent in  its  internal  affairs,  would  be  strong,  but  Austria-Hungary, 
composed  of  dissatisfied  groups,  all  yielding  unwillingly  to  an  arrogant 
Austrian  influence,  is  pitiably  weak. 

The  tie  which  holds  Canada,  Australia  and  New  Zealand  to  England 
is  infinitely  stronger  than  that  which  binds  Hungary  and  Bohemia  to 
the  Austria-Hungarian  throne.  And  why?  Not  because  they  use 
the  same  language,  for  the  American  colonies  wrote  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  in  the  same  tongue  that  George  III.  employed. 
Canada,  Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  leyal  to  England  because 
England  allows  them  to  do  as  they  please.  If  a  British  parliament 
acted  toward  these  colonies  as  the  imperial  government  act-  toward 
Hungary  and  Bohemia,  even  a  common  language  and  a  common 
history  could  not  prevent  a  separation.  "There  is  a  scattering  that 
increaseth,"  says  Solomon,  "and  a.  withholding  of  more  than  is  meet, 
but  it  tendeth  to  penury."  The  proverb  can  be  applied  to  govern- 
ments, and  Francis  Joseph  might  consider  it  with  profit. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Bohemia  is  no  insignificant  part  of 
the  empire.  It  has  an  area  of  twenty  thousand  square  miles  and  a 
population  of  more  than  six  millions,  and  is  rich  in  minerals  and  in 
manufactures.  It  is  noted  for  glass  works,  Bohemian  glass  having 
a  world-wide  reputation.  It  has  important  textile  industries  also,  and 
its  agriculture  has  been  carried  to  a  high  state  of  perfection.  It  has 
played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  history  of  central  Europe,  is  rich 
in  heroes  and  possesses  a  strong  national  spirit. 


398  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Prague,  its  capital  city,  has  long  been  an  educational  center  and  is 
still  the  seat  of  its  intellectual  as  well  as  its  political  life.  There  is  a 
very  complete  industrial  school  at  the  capital,  which  contributes  in 
no  small  degree  to  the  country's  prominence  in  manufacturing.  Just 
new  Bohemia  is  the  Mecca  for  violinists,  America  contributing  her 
quota  of  students. 

John  Huss's  church  is  still  one  of  Prague's  landmarks,  although 
the  Catholic  Church  has  regained  its  supremacy.  The  Hradschin  and 
the  public  buildings  surrounding  the  Hradschiner  Platz  are  of  historic 
interest,  as  is  also  the  old  Jewish  burying  ground. 

Our  American  consul  at  Prague,  Mr.  Ledoux,  has  inaugurated  a 
very  praiseworthy  index  system  for  the  collection  and  preservation  of 
information  of  value  to  importers  and  exporters.  He  has  converted 
one  room  of  the  consular  office  into  a  reading  room  where  American 
trade  papers  are  kept  for  the  business  public  and  where  a  list  of  Ameri- 
can exporters  with  a  description  of  their  wares  may  be  examined  by 
those  desiring  to  purchase.  It  is  an  application  of  the  public  library 
system  to  trade  and  struck  me  as  likely  to  be  of  value  in  increasing 
our  sales. 

Carlsbad  is  only  a  few  hours  ride  from  Prague,  and  I  took  advan- 
tage of  that  fact  to  visit  it.  It  is  built  along  the  narrow  and  winding 
valley  of  the  Tepl  and  is  nearly  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the  sea. 
]  i  has  been  a  health  resort  for  some  six  or  seven  centuries  and  is  now 
visited  yearly  by  more  than  fifty  thousand  invalids.  The  water  is  hot, 
and  the  numerous  springs  seem  to  come  from  a  common  reservoir. 
The  principal  spring,  called  the  Sprudel,  has  a  temperature  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty-four  degrees  and  contains  sulphate  of  soda,  carbon- 
ate of  soda  and  common  salt.  The  solid  substances  deposited  by  the 
water  soon  form  into  a  very  hard  rock  which  takes  a  polish  like  marble. 
These  deposits  gather  so  rapidly  that  all  pipes  leading  from  the  springs, 
and  the  springs  themselves,  must  be  frequently  cleaned  or  they  would 
soon  be  choked  up. 

Liver  complaint  is  the  disease  which  brings  most  visitors  to  Carlsbad, 
and  I  was  surprised  to  find  that,  instead  of  being  a  fashionable  resort, 
a  majority  of  the  patrons  are  of  the  middle  classes.  It  is  a  city  of 
boarding  houses  and  small  hotels  with  a  few  larger  establishments. 
By  eleven  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  streets  are  deserted  and  the  town  asleep., 
probably  because  the  early  morning  is  the  time  for  drinking  the  water. 
1  rose  at  five  and  with  our  vice  consul  at  Prague,  Mr.  Weissburger,  as 
my  guide,  hurried  to  the  springs;  the  invalids  were  even  then  begin- 
ning  to  '-oiiio  forth,  each  with  his  mug,  and  soon  there  was  a  swarm 
of  them.    The  city  has  erected  large  pavilions  at  several  of  the  springs, 


400  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

and  at  two  of  these  bands  play  between  six  and  eight.  By  6:30  the 
streets  were  crowded  and  the  pavilions  jammed.  The  numerous 
attendants  were  kept  busy  filling  the  mugs  (which  are  put  into  long 
handled  holders)  from  the  gushing  fountains.  At  the  time  of  the 
Lisbon  earthquake  the  largest  spring  is  said  to  have  ceased  its  flow  for 
three  days. 

Riding  through  Bohemia  at  this  time  of  the  year,  one  sees  a  great 
deal  of  fine  farming  land,  the  only  unpleasant  feature  being  the  num- 
ber of  women  at  work  in  the  fields  and  along  the  roads.  The  more 
one  sees  of  the  world,  the  more  he  can  appreciate  the  remark  of  the 
witty  Frenchman,  Max  O'Rell,  who,  in  his  lecture  on  "Her  Royal 
Highness,  Woman/'  declares  that  if  he  were  going  to  be  born  one  of 
that  sex,  he  would  pray  to  be  born  in  America.  Woman's  position 
in  our  country  is  not  only  vastly  superior  to  her  position  in  Asia,  but 
very  much  better  than  the  position  of  the  average  woman  in  conti- 
nental Europe. 

Vienna  is  not  only  the  capital  of  the  Austria-Hungarian  empire, 
but  is  one  of  the  greatest  cities  of  Europe.  It  is  worth  visiting  for  its 
architecture  alone,  its  public  buildings  combining  massiveness  and 
grace.  It  is  also  rich  in  monuments  and  statuary  and  w7ell  supplied 
with  drives,  parks  and  places  of  amusement.  The  boulevards  are 
lined  with  restaurants,  each  with  a  large  yard  filled  with  tables  and 
chairs,  the  refreshments  being  served  in  the  open  air  during  the  sum- 
mer months.  These  places  are  thronged  in  the  evening  and  on  Sun- 
day afternoon,  families  often  bringing  their  lunch  baskets  and  buying 
their  coffee  or  beer  at  the  restaurant. 

The  coffee  houses,  as  they  are  found  in  Vienna,  deserve  mention. 
These  are  scattered  all  over  the  city  and  are  very  popular.  News- 
papers are  usually  kept  on  file  and  the  customers  read  the  events  of 
the  day  while  they  sip  their  coffee  or  beer. 

Vienna  is  a  musical  center,  and  its  theaters  are  not  surpassed  any- 
where. We  attended  a  production  of  Faust  there,  a  French  opera 
built  upon  Goethe's  great  drama,  and  found  the  theater  constructed 
with  a  special  viewT  to  the  accommodation  of  a  large  orchestra.  Nor 
is  it  strange  that  music  should  be  so  distinguishing  a  feature  of 
Viennese  life  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  was  the  home  of  Strauss, 
of  Haydn,  of  Mozart,  of  Shubert  and  of  Beethoven,  not  to  speak  of  a 
number  of  lesser  light.-. 

Vienna  is  also  famous  for  its  educational  institutions.  Its  univer- 
sity has  an  honorable  record  of  more  than  five  centuries,  and  its 
medical  college  is  attended  by  students  from  every  land. 

Vienna  is  also  an  example  in  the  matter  of  municipal  ownership, 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY  401 

it  having  gone  beyond  all  the  other  cities  ou  the  continent  in  the 
taking  over  of  what  arc  known  as  the  natural  monopolies.  It  finds 
it  not  only  possible  to  own  and  operate  its  water  works,  Lighting 
plants  and  tramways,  but  it  finds  it  profitable  to  do  so;  the  profits 
which,  under  private  ownership,  go  to  the  stockholders,  accruing  in 
Vienna  to  the  whole  people.  So  successful  is  municipal  ownership 
in  practice  that  opposition  to  the  principle  has  been  silenced.  Those 
who,  in  the  United  States,  are  struggling  in  spite  of  the  influence  of 
organized  wealth,  exerted  through  subsidized  new-papers,  corrupted 
councils  and  sometimes  even  through  a  biased  judiciary,  to  restore 
the  streets  of  our  cities  to  the  public,  can  find  encouragement  in 
Vienna's  experience.  The  conflict  can  have  but  one  end,  namely, 
triumph  for  municipal  ownership.  "Sorrow  may  endure  for  a  night, 
but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning." 

Austria-Hungary  has  a  well  developed  system  of  forestry;  I  noticed 
this  on  a  former  visit  and  made  inquiries  about  it  this  time.  There 
is  a  law  compelling  the  planting  of  a  tree  whenever  one  is  cut  down, 
and  not  content  with  maintaining  the  present  number,  the  denuded 
hills  are  being  replanted.  It  seems  difficult  to  turn  public  attention 
to  any  subject  until  some  abuse  has  made  action  imperative,  but  tic 
sooner  our  country  awakes  to  the  danger  involved  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  our  timber,  the  less  we  shall  be  compelled  to  suffer  for  the 
enormous  waste  committed  in  our  forests. 

I  have  been  intending  for  some  time  to  speak  of  the  matter  of 
permanent  buildings  for  our  embassies,  and  Vienna  is  a  case  in  point. 
Our  ambassador  at  Vienna,  Mr.  Francis,  has  had  difficulty  in  finding 
a  suitable  place  for  the  embassy.  I  discussed  the  subject  during  my 
former  visit  abroad,  and  my  observations  on  this  trip  have1  still  further 
strengthened  the  opinion  that  our  country  owe-  it  to  itself,  as  well  as 
its  representatives,  to  purchase  or  erect  at  each  of  the  foreign  capitals 
a  permanent  embassy  building.  At  present  each  new  ambassador 
or  minister  must  begin  his  official  career  with  a  house-hunting  expe- 
dition,  and  the  local  landlords,  knowing  tlii-.  are  quick  to  take 
advantage  of  the  situation.  At  one  place  an  American  ambassador 
was  recently  asked  to  pay  double  what  his  predecessor  had  paid,  and 
as  he  was  not  willing  to  do  this,  he  is  still  living  at  a  hotel.  There 
are  not  many  suitable  buildings  from  which  to  select,  and  our  repre- 
sentative is  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  control  the  limited  supply. 
Diplomatic  requirement-  are  such  that  the  embassy  must  be  centrally 
located  and  sufficiently  commodious  to  enable  the  ambassador  or  min- 
ister to  return  the  courtesies  which  he  receives.  Small  apartments 
are  numerous,  and  there  are  a  few  palaces  which  can  be  rented,  but 


402  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND   ITS    WAYS 

the  former  are  not  large  enough  and  the  latter  much  larger  than 
necessary.  Our  government  ought  to  own  a  building  conveniently 
located  and  suitable  for  the  offices  and  home  of  the  ambassador.  It 
must  either  do  this  or  choose  between  two  systems,  both  of  which 
are  bad.  viz..  compel  the  representative  to  spend  more  than  his  salary 
for  house  rent,  or  continually  increase  the  salary  of  diplomatic  rep- 
resentatives to  keep  pace  with  the  growing  rent  in  the  capitals  of  the 
world.  To  throw  the  burden  upon  the  government's  representative 
is  undemocratic;  to  risk  constantly  increasing  rent  is  false  economy. 
It  is  not  in  harmony  with  our  theory  of  government  to  have  an 
important  branch  of  the  public  service  open  to  rich  men  only,  and 
that  is  the  case  under  the  present  system.  No  poor  man  can  afford 
to  accept  an  appointment  as  an  American  minister  or  ambassador  to 
any  of  the  principal  countries  of  Europe,  and  as  the  years  go  by,  the 
expense  of  a  diplomatic  residence  will  become  greater  as  the  value 
of  urban  property  increases.  While  the  telegraph  and  the  cable  have 
considerably  decreased  the  responsibility  of  the  foreign  representative, 
by  bringing  him  into  closer  contact  with  the  home  government,  still 
much  depends  upon  the  ability,  the  sagacity  and  the  discretion  of 
those  whom  we  -end  abroad.  Our  government  ought  to  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  select  from  the  whole  citizen  body  those  most  competent  for 
the  work  to  be  entrusted  to  them,  and  it  goes  without  saying  that 
efficiency  in  the  public  service  is  not  measured  by  the  amount  of 
money  which  an  official  has  either  inherited  or  accumulated. 

There  is  another  argument  in  favor  of  the  building  of  permanent 
embassy  buildings  which  ought  to  have  weight  with  our  people.  If 
diplomatic  representatives  are  chosen  only  from  those  who  are  able 
to  spend  more  than  their  official  incomes,  it  naturally  follows  that 
some  will  be  richer  than  others  and  that  the  establishments  main- 
tained will  differ  in  expensiveness.  In  fact,  experience  has  shown 
that  a  new  representative  is  sometimes  embarrassed  by  the  lavish 
expenditures  of  a  preceding  one.  The  standing  of  our  nation  abroad 
demands  that  our  ambassadors  and  ministers  shall  live  in  a  style 
in  keeping  with  our  ideas,  and  extravagance  is  as  offensive  as  parsi- 
mony. By  owning  its  own  embassy  buildings  our  government  can 
date  the  standard  of  living  and  entertainment  of  those  who  repre- 
sent it  at  foreign  courts.  There  is  no  doubt  that  our  nation  must 
ultimately  come  to  this  plan,  and  the  sooner  it  adopts  it,  the  better.* 


*  Since  the  writing  of  the  above  congress  has  appropriated  a  sum  for  the  pur- 
chase of  embassy  buildings,  and  a  beginning  has  been  made  by  the  purchase  of  a 
building  in  Constantinople. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
THE    DUMA. 

There  is  at  least  one  man  in  Russia  who  has  reason  to  feel  thai  his 
political  judgment  has  been  vindicated  and  his  predictions  verified 
by  the  assembling  of  the  duma.  It  is  Count  Ignatieff,  who,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-eight,  framed  the  Pekin  treaty  and  who,  as  minister 
of  the  interior  (the  highest  cabinet  position  at  that  time),  in  1881 
formulated  a  plan  for  a  national  assembly.  His  scheme  was  to  have 
three  thousand  representatives  elected  by  the  people,  these  represent- 
atives, gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  empire,  to  meet  at  Moscow  ;in<l 
confer  with  the  emperor  in  person  in  regard  to  legislative  measures. 
In  order  to  avoid  the  objections  raised  to  so  large  an  assembly,  he 
proposed  to  divide  the  body  into  groups  of  one  hundred  each,  these 
groups  to  meet  separately.  He  secured  the  approval  of  the  emperor, 
but  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet  were  so  strenuous  in  their  oppo- 
sition that  the  emperor  decided  not  to  attempt  the  reform  and  Count 
Ignatieff  resigned  from  the  ministry.  He  warned  his  associates  that 
a  failure  to  recognize  the  demands  of  the  people  for  representation 
in  the  government  would  simply  delay  the  change  and  that  it  was 
better  to  yield  before  the  demands  became  more  radical,  but  the 
members  of  the  bureaucracy,  deaf  to  the  appeals  of  the  people  and 
blind  to  their  own  interests,  resisted,  and  as  a  result  a  duma  is  now 
in  session  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  bureaucracy  finds  itself  an  object  of 
contempt  and  loathing,  and  the  present  emperor,  like  his  predeces- 
sor, has  to  bear  the  sins  of  his  advisers. 

I  called  upon  Count  Ignatieff  and  found  him  still  vigorous  in  spite 
of  his  grey  hairs  and  advancing  years.  I  was  interested  in  him  aot 
only  because  he  is  friendly  toward  our  country  and  speaks  our  lan- 
guage fluently,  but  more  especially  because  he  was  a  pioneer  in  a 
great  movement  and  foresaw  what  many  of  the  nobility  even  now 
fail  to  recognize,  viz.,  that  there  is  no  place  where  arbitrary  power 
can  justify  its  existence.  The  tide  of  progress  has  swept  past  the 
Count,  and  he  is  now  classed  among  the  conservatives,  but  he  deserves 
to  be  remembered  because  he  had  the  courage  to  speak  out  when  it 

403 


404 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


required  bravery  to  propose  the  taking  of  a  step  in  the  direction  of 
popular  government. 

The  duma  is  the  result  of  the  Labors  of  hundreds,  yes,  thousands 
of  Russian  reformers,  a  few  conspicuous,  but  the  most  of  them 
unknown  to  fame,  who  for  more  than  seventy-five  year-  have  been 
insisting  upon  constitutional  government.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  bodies  of  men  ever  convened  in  a  national  capital,  and 
I  have  been  abundantly  repaid  for  coming  here.  The  duma  must  be 
-  n  to  be  appreci- 
ated; even  more,  to 
understand  it  one 
must  not  only  see  the 
members,  but  must 
know  something  of 
the  struggle  through 
which  t  h  e  y  have 
passed.  I  am  satis- 
fied that  the  czar 
himself  is  more  lib- 
•ral  than  his  advis- 
er- and  that,  left  to 
himself,  he  would 
long  ago  have  made 
com  (--inn-  which 
would  have  brought 
the  throne  and  the 
subjects  nearer  to- 
gether, but  he  has 
yielded  so  slowly  and 
given  so  grudgingly 
that  the  people  have 
become  very  much 
estranged.  To  illus- 
trate this  I  need  only 
cite    the    facts,    first 

as  to  the  election.  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  are  the  political  centers 
where  the  officials  and  the  nobility  have  the  strongest  representation, 
and  yet  in  the  elections  the  constitutional  democrats  won  an  over- 
whelming victory  in  both  these  cities.  In  St.  Petersburg  the  ticket 
which  represented  the  emperor  received  only  two  thousand  votes  out 
of  a  total   vote  of  sixty    thousand,    and  in  his  home  precinct,  where 


COUNT    IGNATIEFF. 


THE    DUMA 


405 


three  hundred  voters  were  senl  to  the  polls  in  courl  carriages,  his  ticket 
received  only  eighty  votes!  Could  anything  more  clearly  prove  the 
frail  hold  of  the  government  upon  the  people?  And  it  musl  be  re- 
membered thai  they  do  not  have  universal  suffrage  in  the  cities,  bul 
a  property  qualification  which  excludes  the  pooresl  of  the  people,  the 
very  ones  who  have  mosl  reason  to  desire  popular  government. 

The  second  proof  of  the  feeling  against  the  government  is  to  be 
found  in  the  unanimity  with  which  the  duma  opposes  the  position 
taken  by  the  government's  minister.  While  the  members  of  the 
duma  are  divided  among  themselves  on  many  questions,  they  act  as 
one  man  in  their  opposition  to  the  government's  policy,  insofar  as  thai 
policy  has  been  outlined.     In  fact,  the  ten-ion  has  been  so  great  that 


THE    PALACE    WHERE    THE    RUSSIAN    DUMA    MEETS. 


I  was  afraid  the  body  might  be  dissolved  by  imperial  order  before 
we  could  reach  St.  Petersburg. 

The  sessions  of  the  duma  are  held  in  a  palace  built  by  Catherine 
the  Great  for  one  of  her  favorites,  General  Potemkin.  It  is  a  commo- 
dious building  and  has  been  remodeled  to  meet  present  needs.  The 
largest  room,  extending  the  entire  width  of  the  building,  was  once 
the  ballroom  and  some  notable  entertainments  have  been  given  in  it 
— entertainments  calling  for  a  lavish  expenditure  and  attended  only 
by  the  nobility;  now  the  room  serves  as  a  lobby,  and  peasant  repre- 
sentatives, wearing  the  usual  blouse  and  top  boots,  stride  through 
it  as  they  go  to  and  from  the  sessions.  In  another  part  of  the  build- 
ing there  are  ample  dining  rooms  where  the  members  of  the  duma  and 


406  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

the  press  may  secure  meals  at  very  moderate  rates.  The  assembly 
hall  is  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  mem- 
bers, but  is  badly  lighted.  The  windows  are  all  back  of  the  speaker's 
platform,  so  that  the  members  sit  with  their  faces  towards  the  light. 
1 1  would  be  much  better  if  the  light  came  from  above,  but  it  is  really 
surprising  that  the  accommodations  are  as  satisfactory  as  they  are, 
considering  the  short  time  the  workmen  had  to  make  the  necessary 
changes. 

Back  of  the  president  is  a  life-sized  painting  of  the  czar  in  uniform; 
on  the  left  is  a  box  occupied  by  the  ministers  when  present,  and  beyond 
the  ministers  is  a  still  larger  enclosure  occupied  by  the  representatives 
of  the  foreign  press.  To  the  right  of  the  president  are  seats  for  mem- 
bers  of  the  council  of  empire  who  may  be  in  attendance,  and 
beyond  them  the  enclosure  occupied  by  representatives  of  the  Russian 
press.  Just  in  front  and  a.  little  below  the  president's  desk  is  the 
rostrum  from  which  the  members  of  the  duma  address  the  assembly, 
and  just  below  this  rostrum  is  the  reporters'  table,  where  the  stenog- 
raphers take  down  the  proceedings.  Besides  the  rooms  already  men- 
tioned there  are  committee  rooms,  cloak  rooms,  rooms  for  the  home 
press  and  for  the  foreign  press,  etc.,  etc.  In  a  word,  the  duma  build- 
ing looks  very  much  like  an  American  legislative  hall  or  a  European 
parliament  building — a  likeness  still  further  emphasized  by  the  pres- 
ence of  men  and  women  clerks,  doorkeepers,  pages  and  spectators.  One 
thing  only  was  out  of  harmony  with  a  legislative  body,  and  that  was 
a  company  of  soldiers  stationed  in  a  wing  of  the  building  as  if  in 
anticipation  of  possible  trouble.  We  were  present  at  two  sessions  of 
the  duma  and  found' them  intensely  interesting.  The  morning  session 
i.«  ,:i  present  given  up  to  speeches  on  the  land  question,  more  than  a 
third  of  the  members  having  expressed  a  desire  to  be  heard  on  this 
subject.  The  speeches  are  usually  short  and  often  read  from  manu- 
script. Hand-clapping  is  allowed,  and  there  was  always  applause  at 
the  close  of  the  speeches.  Occasionally  the  president  announced  that 
some  speaker  on  the  list  surrendered  his  time  and  this  statement  also 
brought  forth  applause,  the  discussion  of  the  subject  having  by  this 
time  become  tiresome. 

By  the  courtesy  of  our  ambassador,  Mr.  Meyer,  we  were  admitted  to 
the  diplomatic  gallery,  from  which  we  could  survey  the  entire  body. 
There  is  probably  no  assembly  like  it  on  either  hemisphere.  It  is 
made  up  of  all  classes  and  represents  every  shade  of  opinion.  There 
are  members  of  the  nobility  who  have  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  people, 
lawyers  who  have  temporarily  left  their  practice  to  devote  themselves 
to  the  larger  interests  of  the  public,  professors  fresh  from  the  universi- 


THE    DUMA 


407 


ties,  business  men  from  the  cities,  laboring  men  from  the  factories, 
and  there  are,  most  numerous  still,  peasants  from  the  farms.  Some  of 
the  members  are  near  the  end  of  life  and  command  attention  by  their 
years  as  well  as  by  their  words,  and  there  is  a  sprinkling  of  young  men 
who  have  become  the  spokesmen  of  their  communities,  bul  the  majority 
are  middle-aged  men  who  have  years  of  experience  behind  them,  and 
are  yet  strong  for  the  battle.  In  garb  there  is  also  great  variety,  I  In- 
black  frock  coat,  the  business  suit,  the  belted  blouse,  and  the  clerical 


PROFESSOR    SERGE    MURMETZEFF. 


robe  are  all  to  be  seen.  The  smooth  face  seems  to  be  at  a  discount  in 
Russia;  one  would  suppose,  so  plentiful  are  whiskers,  that  the  barbers 
were  on  a  strike.  There  are  many  heavy  heads  of  hair,  too,  sometimes 
the  locks  falling  to  the  shoulders,  sometimes  cut  square  about  the  ears. 
The  lobby  is  a  better  place  than  the  gallery  to  study  features;  sitting 
on  one  of  the  visitors'  seats  in  this  commodious  hall  we  watched  the 
members  passing  to  and  fro  and  were  introduced  to  a  number  of  them 


408 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


by  die  American  newspaper  men  who  are  reporting  the  proceedings 
for  the  press  of  our  country.  There  are  also  a 'number  of  Americans 
here  studying  the  Russian  situation  as  a  preparation  for  university 
work  at  home,  a  son  of  the  late  Dr.  Harper  of  Chicago  being  one  of 
these.  I  shall  send  with  this  article  a  number  of  photographs  of  the 
more  prominent  members,  but  I  regret  that  I  cannot  bring  before  my 
readers  some  of  the  faces 
that  we  observed  in  the 
lobby,  faces  which  seemed 
to  present  an  epitome 
of  Russia  n  history — 
strong,  firm,  unyielding 
faces  which  plainly  tell  of 
the  stern  resolve  that  lies 
behind  the  peasant  move- 
ment. They  may  protest, 
like  Mark  Antony,  that 
they  have  neither  "wit  nor 
word-  nor  worth,  action, 
nor  utterance  nor  the  pow- 
er of  speech  to  stir  men's 
blood,"  but  they  can  "put 
a  tongue  in  every  wound" 
of  their  countrymen  that 
will  almost  "move  the 
.-tone-  to  rise  and  mutiny." 
This  is  the  first  duma, 
and  it  has  not  proceeded 
far  enough  to  fully  devel- 
op the  permanent  leaders, 
but,  if  I  may  use  the 
simile,  as  the  basket  of  pebbles  is  shaken  by  debate,  the  large  ones  are 
gradually  rising  to  the  top.  The  president  of  the  duma  is  Prof.  Serge 
Murmetseff,  of  Moscow,  whose  learning  and  judicial  temperament  com- 
bined to  make  him  the  choice  of  the  several  parties,  no  one  of  which 
can  claim  a  majority.  The  constitutional  democrats  have  the  largest 
membership  and  are  the  best  organized.  They  also  have  the  advan- 
tage of  occupying  the  middle  ground  between  the  radicals  and  the 
conservatives.  Having  about  one  hundred  and  fiftv  members  on  their 
rolls  and  some  thirty  more  acting  with  them,  they  can  count  upon 
enough    votes    from    the    more    conservative    elements    to    defeat    the 


EDITOR    PAUL    I.    MILIUKOFF. 


THE    DUMA  409 

extreme  radicals,  and  they  can  rely  upon  enough  radical  votes  to 
carry  out  their  program.  The  floor  leader  of  this  party  is  Vladimir 
D.  Nabokoff,  of  St.  Petersburg,  a  member  of  a  prominent  family  and 
himself  until  recently  an  instructor  in  the  national  law  school.  He 
is  about  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  intelligent  and  alert,  and  has  the 
confidence  of  his  party.  The  orator  of  the  constitutional  democrats  is 
Theodore  I.  Rodicheff,  a  scholarly  looking  man  of  fifty.  He  is  polished 
in  manner  and  persuasive  in  speech.  One  of  the  mosl  influential  of 
the  constitutional  democrats  is  Mr.  Maxim  Winawer,  a  Jewish  lawyer  of 
the  capital.  He  is  sometimes  described  as  the  "brains''  of  the  party 
and  is  credited  with  drafting  the  duma's  reply  to  the  address  from  the 
throne.  lie  is  one  of  the  ablest  civil  lawyers  in  the  empire  and  his 
election  from  St.  Petersburg,  where  there  are  but  three  thousand  Jewish 
voters,  out  of  a  total  vote  of  sixty  thousand,  and  his  elevation  to  the 
vice-presidency  of  the  national  organization  of  his  party,  would  seem 
to  answer  the  charge  that  there  is  widespread  hostility  to  the  Jews 
among  the  people. 

Nabokoff,  Rodicheff  and  Winawer  are  members  of  the  duma  and  ate. 
therefore,  prominently  before  the  public  at  this  time,  but  in  popularity 
they  have  a  rival  in  the  person  of  Paul  I.  Miliukoff,  editor  of  the 
''Retch."  (The  government  would  probably  put  a  "W,J  before  the 
"R"  and  give  the  word  its  English  meaning,  but  in  Russian  the  word 
Retch  means  speech.)  Mr.  Miliukoff,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  one 
of  the  candidates  of  his  party  in  St.  Petersburg,  but  the  government 
compelled  the  substitution  of  another  name  because  he  was  awaiting 
trial  for  an  alleged  violation  of  the  pre--  laws.  He  was  acquitted 
soon  afterward  and  is  one  of  the  moving  spirits  in  the  present  par- 
liamentary struggle.  He  speaks  excellent  English  and  has  lectured  in 
the  United  States.  No  one  need  despair  of  reform  in  Russia  while 
such  a  man  as  Miliukoff  devotes  his  great  ability  to  journalism. 

Next  to  the  constitutional  democrats,  the  members  of  the  "group 
of  toil"  form  the  largest  party.  There  are  about  a  hundred  of  these, 
and  Alexis  G.  Aladin  is  their  leader.  He  is  even  younger  than  Nabo- 
koff, but  has  already  shown  himself  to  be  a  man  of  force  and  origi- 
nality. 

Count  Heyden  is  the  leader  of  the  conservative  element,  if  there  is 
a  conservative  element  in  the  duma.  Perhaps  it  would  be  more  accu- 
rate to  describe  him  as  the  spokesman  for  the  leasi  radical  group,  for 
all  the  members  of  the  duma  are  reformers,  differing  only  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  changes  and  the  speed  with  which  they  shall  be  made. 
He  was  once  considered  radical,  but  he  has  not  moved  as  rapidly  as 
public  sentiment.     Count  Heyden  bears  quite  a  resemblance  to  Uncle 


410 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Sam  as  he  is  pictured  in  the  newspapers.  I  have  spoken  somewhat  at 
length  of  the  leaders  in  order  to  show  that  while  the  grievances  of  the 
peasants  and  laborers  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  movement,  all  classes 
are  enlisted  in  the  effort  to  establish  constitutional  government. 

The  afternoon  sessions  are  generally  lively,  for  it  is  at  this  time 
that  the  ministers  make  their  reports,  offer  their  measures  and  answer 
the  questions  propounded  by  the  members.  The  session  which  we 
attended  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The  house  was  full,  the  galleries 
crowded  and  the  newspapers  fully  represented.     There  were  more  than 


SOME   MEMBERS  OF  RUSSIAN  DUMA. 


forty  Russian  writers  in  their  corner  and  not  less  than  fifty  of  the 
foreign  press  in  theirs.  When  the  representative  of  the  war  department, 
replying  to  a  question  concerning  some  recent  military  executions, 
declared  that  the  minister  of  war  was  powerless  to  overrule  the  gen- 
erals, there  were  shouts  of  "Murderer!"  "Assassin!"  "Dog!"  and  other 
equally  uncomplimentary  epithets. 

One  of  the  demands  made  by  the  duma  is  for  the  abolition  of  the 
death  penalty.  This  might  .seem  a  very  radical  measure  to  us,  but 
the  condition-  are  quite  different  in  Russia.   Here  there  is  no  assurance 


THE    DUMA 


411 


of  an  impartial  trial,  and  torture  is  resorted  to  to  force  an  admission 
of  guilt.  Only  recently  three  persons  were  found  to  be  innocent  after 
they  had  been  tortured  and  put  to  death.  The  members  of  the  duma 
feel  that  the  only  security  to  the  people  is  in  the  entire  abolition  of 
the  death  penalty,  for  while  those  who  are  falsely  accused  -till  Live, 
there  is  a  chance  to  rescue  them.  In  this  respecl  exile,  hateful  as  it  is, 
has  its  advantages;  I  met  a  member  of  the  duma  who  was  returned 
from  exile  by  the  government  upon  the  demand  of  the  duma.  In  the 
torturing  of  prisoners  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  a  confession  Russia 
is  even  behind  China,  had  as  China  is,  for  in  the  latter  nation  it  has 


MEMBERS   OF    THE   RUSSIAN    DUMA. 


been  abolished,  except  where  one  is  charged  with  murder,  and  is  only 
permitted  then  after  the  guilt  of  the  accused  has  been  established  by 
other  evidence. 

There  are  a  number  of  important  measures  which  are  very  little 
discussed  in  the  duma  because  they  are  certain  to  receive  the  approval 
of  the  government;  one  of  these  provides  for  universal  education.  The 
program  of  the  duma  also  includes  legislation  guaranteeing  freedom  of 
speech,  freedom  of  the  press,  protection  for  the  Jews  and  local  self- 
government  for  the  Polish  portion  of  Russia.  As  the  women  have 
taken  an  active  part  in  the  agitation  for  constitutional  reform,  all  of 
the  parties  are  committed  to  woman's  suffrage. 


412 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Just  now  the  land  question  is  paramount.  About  one-third  of  the 
entire  acreage  of  land  in  the  empire  is  in  the  hands  of  the  czar,  the 
government  and  the  nobility,  and  the  peasants  demand  that  it  shall  be 
turned  over  to  them.  At  this  time  they  are  willing  to  have  compensa- 
tion made  to  the  owners,  but  the  more  they  think  about  it  and  the 
more  vehement  their  demand  becomes,  the  less  they  are  likely  to  con- 
sider compensation.  There  t 
is  no  doubt  that  there  are 
enough  cases  of  injustice 
and  contemptuous  indif- 
ference to  their  needs  to 
arouse  resentment  among 
the  peasants,  if  Ave  take 
human  nature  as  we  find 
it.  They  tell  of  instances 
where  whole  villages  have 
1  »'!'ii  compelled  to  pay  toll. 
generation  after  genera- 
lion,  for  the  privilc.ut  of 
crossing  some  nobleman's 
land  to  reach  the  land 
fanned  in  common  by  the 
people  of  the  village.  Pow- 
erless to  condemn  land 
for  roads,  as  it  can  be  done 
in  other  countries,  they 
have  grown  more  embit- 
tered year  by  year  until 
some  of  them  feel  that 
patience  has  ceased  to  be 

a  virtue.    It  is  now  intimated  that  the  government  will  offer  a  partial 
distribution  of  land  as  a  compromise. 

The  opponents  of  expropriation  seek  shelter  behind  the  excuse  that 
the  peasants  attack  the  principle  of  private  ownership.  While  it  is 
true  that  there  are  socialists  in  the  duma  who  prefer  communal  hold- 
inn-  to  private  ownership,  the  object  of  the  peasants  is  not  to  dispose  -- 
small  holders,  but  simply  to  give  the  peasants  access  to  the  large 
estates.  The  situation  resembles,  in  some  respects,  the  situation  in 
Ireland,  excepl  thai  in  Russia  the  land  is  to  be  turned  over  to  the 
communities.  I  made  some  inquiry  regarding  the  question  of  joint 
owrKT-hin  and  learned  from  one  of  the  best  informed  men  in  Russia 


MAXIM  WIXAVER. 


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414  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

that  there  is  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  individual  ownership. 
Ownership  in  common  does  not  give  to  each  individual  that  stimulus 
to  improve  his  land,  which  is  the  important  element  in  individual 
ownership.  In  riding  through  a  country,  one  can  distinguish  with 
considerable  accuracy  between  the  farms  cultivated  by  their  owners 
and  those  cultivated  by  tenant-,  because  the  tenants,  as  a  rule,  are 
unwilling  to  make  permanent  improvements.  One  Russian  economist 
estimates  the  income  from  the  owned  lands  of  Russia  at  thirty  per 
cent  above  the  income  of  the  same  area  of  communal  lands.  He 
attributes  it  to  the  ability  of  the  land  owners  to  supply  themselves 
with  proper  tools  and  to  furnish  or  borrow7  at  low  rates  the  money 
needed  for  cultivation,  but  it  is  possible  that  this  difference  may  be 
in  part  due  to  the  fact  that  ownership  makes  the  incentive  to  labor 
greater,  and  offers  a  richer  reward  to  superior  effort.* 

There  is  an  upper  house,  or  council  of  empire  as  it  is  called,  which 
>hares  the  legislative  power  with  the  duma,  but  it  does  not  receive 
much  attention  because  its  composition  is  such  that  it  cannot  reflect 
public  sentiment,  and  cannot  oppose  the  will  of  the  people  except  at 
the  risk  of  its  existence.  Half  of  the  members  of  this  council  are 
aj 'pointed  by  the  emperor  and  the  other  half  elected  by  different 
interests.  The  nobility  elect  some,  the  universities  some  and  the 
zemstows  some. 

The  duma  does  not  recognize  the  council  of  empire  as  a  co-ordinate 
branch  of  the  government  and  will  not  be  slow  to  express  itself  in 
favor  of  a  radical  change  in  the  method  of  selecting  the  members  of 
this  upper  house,  or  even  its  abolition,  if  it  stands  in  the  way  of  meas- 
ures which  have  a  large  majority  in  the  duma. 

What  will  be  the  outcome  in  Russia?  A  Russian  would  hardly 
venture  a  prediction,  and  for  an  outsider,  prophecy  is  even  more  haz- 
ardous. The  situation  could  scarcely  be  more  complicated.  Genera- 
tions of  misrule  have  brought  an  accumulation  of  questions,  all 
pressing  for  solution.  The  duma.  wants  a  great  many  things  done  and 
wants  them  done  at  once,  while  the  government,  if  it  remains  under 
the  influences  of  the  bureaucracy,  will  give  as  little  as  possible.  So 
far,  the  government  has  been  unfortunate  in  that  it  has  delayed  mak- 
ing concessions  until  still  greater  concessions  were  demanded.  The 
program  of  the  present  ministry  has  been  so  completely  repudiated 
that  the  emperor  may  find  it  easier  to  appoint  a  new  ministry  than 
to  humiliate  the  present  one  by  compelling  it  to  propose  what  it  has 
heretofore  refused.     If  a  new  ministry  is  formed  and  the  duma  is 

*  The  Czar  has  just  issued  a  decree  which  according  to  the  press  dispatches, 
permits  the  communal  holdings  to  be  converted  into  individual  holdings. 


THE    DUMA 


415 


consulted  about  its  personnel,  Ivan  Petrunkevich  will  probably  be  the 
premier.  He  is  a  member  of  the  duma  and  the  head  of  the  parlia- 
mentary organization  of  the  constitutional  democrats.  Ee  has  already 
proposed  a  constitution  to  Nicholas  II.  If  the  duma  is  disregarded 
and  a  ministry  funned  from  the  emperor's  present  advisers,  it  will  at 
least  be  more  liberal  than  the  one  now  in  office. 

The  .duma  is  a  per- 
manent institution;  it 
could  not  be  abolished 
by  imperial  d  e  c  r  e  e 
without  endangering 
the  crown  itself,  and  it 
eannol    be    dissolved    or 

prorogued  with  safety.* 
The  government  must, 
therefore,  (rent  with  the 
duma  and  agree  with 
such  compromises  as 
may  be  necessary  to 
maintain  peace  between 
the  executive  and  the 
people.  The  officials, 
too,  are  learning  from 
the  duma  something 
about  the  science  of 
government.  When 
there  was  no  one  to 
speak  for  the  people, 
the  czar  could  claim  to 
voice  their  sentiments. 
He  can  claim  this  no 
longer.  When  the  people  were  denied  a  hearing,  the  officials 
could  deny  that  the  people  desired  reforms,  but  the  officials  cannot 
put  their  unsupported  opinion-  against  a  unanimous  duma.  The 
elections  have  shown  how  insignificant  a  support  the  government  has 
among  its  subjects,  and  these  figures  contain  a  warning,  which  even 
the  bureaucracy  cannot  entirely  disregard.  Docs  the  government  rely 
upon  the  army?  The  soldiers  are  drawn  from  the  people  and  serve 
for  three  years,  a  half  million  raw  recruits  being  enlisted  each  year. 


IVAN   PETRUNKEVICH. 


*  Soon  after  this  letter  was  written  the  duma  was  dissolved,  with  a  promise  of 
another  election,  and  as  this  book  goes  to  press  a  second  campaign  is  in  progress. 


416  TTTE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Is  it  possible  that  they  can  be  different  in  sentiment  from  their  fathers 
and  brothers?  In  three  year-  the  Russian  army  will  be  made  up  of 
men  in  hearty  accord  with  those  who  speak  through  the  duma.  With- 
out an  army  to  rely  upon,  what  answer  can  the  bureaucracy  make  to 
the  legislature? 

The  czar  has  already  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  his  advisers; 
he  is  no  longer  the  idol  he  was,  and  reverence  for  the  Church  has 
abated  somewhat,  as  reverence  for  him,  its  temporal  head,  has  decreased. 
What  can  he  do?  There  is  but  one  course  open  to  him.  He  asked 
the  people  what  the}'  wanted  and  they  have  told  him.  As  he  cannot 
doubt  that  they  have  told  him  the  truth,  he  must  either  accept  their 
answer  or  confess  that  he  does  not  intend  to  consider  their  wishes.  If 
he  would  appoint  a  new  ministry,  propose  a  measure  guaranteeing 
freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  the  press,  recommend  an  agricultural 
bank  to  protect  the  peasants  from  the  small  money  lenders,  recall  the 
exiles,  release  political  prisoners  and  invite  the  leaders  of  the  duma  to 
confer  with  the  ministry  in  regard  to  the  land  question,  he  would  be 
restored  to  the  affection  of  his  subjects  and  have  no  reason  to  fear 
bomb-throwers  or  hostile  criticism.  He  would  find  a  hundred  and 
thirty  millions  of  loyal  subjects  a  much  stronger  bodyguard  than  a 
few  hired  soldiers.  His  position  is  a  difficult  one  because  his  environ- 
ment is  unfriendly  to  the  masses,  but  having  burned  the  bridges 
behind  him,  he  must  go  forward. 

Russia  is  not  decaying.  She  has  extent  of  territory,  abundant 
natural  resources  and  an  immense  population.  To  be  sure,  a  majority 
of  her  people  were  serfs  until  a  generation  ago,  but  there  is  no  race 
distinction  between  the  nobility  and  the  peasant,  and  with  educa- 
tion the  extremes  of  society  are  being  drawn  closer  together.  That 
Russia  has  a  great  future  is  not  open  to  doubt.  What  experience- 
she  may  pass  through  before  she  emerges  a  free,  self-governing 
and  prosperous  nation  no  one  is  wise  enough  to  foresee,  but  the  people 
who  haw  sacrificed  as  much  for  liberty  as  have  the  Russian  patriots 
have  in  them  the  material  of  which  mighty  nations  are  made.  The 
duma  is  ready  to  do  its  pari :  will  the  government  rise  to  the  occasion? 
Time  alone  can  tell. 


Note — Since  tin's  article  was  written  the  Duma  has  been  dissolved,  and  a  second 
Duma  is  now  in  session 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

AROUND  THE  BALTIC. 

The  discussion  of  the  duma  occupied  so  much  space  thai  I  was 
compelled  to  omit  from  thai  article  all  mention  of  Russia  in  general, 
and  to  St.  Petersburg  in  particular;  I  shall  therefore  begin  this 
article  with  a  brief  reference  to  the  Moscovite  empire.  Two  and  a 
half  years  ago,  when  I  saw  liu.-sia  for  the  first  time,  I  entered  by  the 
way  of  Warsaw  and  went  to*  St.  Petersburg  from  Moscow.  While 
considerable  territory  was  covered,  the  winter's  snows  made  the  whole 
country  look  barren  and  uninviting.  This  time  our  course  lay 
through  the  Baltic  provinces,  and  as  fanning  was  at  its  height,  the 
country  presented  a  much  fairer  picture.  The  cities  and  villages 
through  which  we  passed  were  busy  with  life  and  each  had  its  church, 
for  the  Russians  arc  a  church-going  people. 

St.  Petersburg  is  a  fascinating  city.  The  Church  of  St.  [saacs, 
with  its  great  granite  monoliths  on  the  outside,  its  pillars  within 
covered  with  malachite  and  lapsus  lazuli,  and  its  immense  bronze 
doors,  is  among  the  world's  most  imposing  places  of  worship:  the 
equestrian  statue  of  Peter  the  Great  is  famous,  and  the  art  gallery  is 
of  rare  merit.  Russia's  bronzes  are  most  excellent,  and  her  -tores 
exhibit  a  large  -assortment  of  furs. 

In  St.  Petersburg  I  found  myself,  as  on  my  former  visit,  admiring 
the  horses,  they  being,  upon  the  whole,  the  best  that  I  have  seen  since 
leaving  America.  Possibly  the  fact  that  so  many  stallion-  arc  driven 
singly  and  in  pairs  may  account,  in  part,  for  the  handsome  and 
stylish  animals  seen  upon  the  streets,  but  certain  it  is  that  the  Russian 
horse  is  a  splendid  representative  of  his  breed.  There  is  a  large  park, 
called  the  Point,  near  the  city,  and  in  the  evening  this  park  and  the 
approaches  to  it  are  thronged  with  carriages  and  droskies.  As  the 
sun  does  not  set  there  at  this  season  of  the  year  until  between  nine 
and  ten  and  is  followed  by  a  long  twilight,  the  drives  are  gay  with 
Life  until  midnight.  We  did  not  reach  our  hotel  until  eleven  o'clock, 
although  we  were  among  the  first  to  leave  the  park. 

Speaking  of  horses,  reminds  me  that  the  Russian  coachman  has  an 

417 


418 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


individuality  all  his  own.  His  headgear  is  peculiar,  being  a  squatty 
beaver  with  a  spool-shaped  crown,  but  one  soon  forgets  the  hat  in 
contemplation  of  the  form.  The  skirt  of  the  coachman's  coat  is  very 
full  and  pleated,  and  the  more  stylish  the  equipage,  the  broader  is 
the  driver.  Beginning  at  the  shoulders,  his  padding  gradually  increases 
until  about  the  hips  he  is  as  broad  as  the  box  upon  which  he  sits. 
This  padding  is  carried  to  such  an  extreme  that  the  coachman  some- 
times has  to  be  lifted  upon  the  box,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  he 
is  practically  helpless,  as  well  as  useless,  in  case  of  an  accident.  It 
may  be  that  this  style  of  dress  is  designed  for  a  wind  break  for  tho  • 


A  VIEW   OF  STOCKHOLM. 


who  arc  seated  behind  the  wearer — this  was  one  of  the  explanations 
given — or  it  may  be  that  it,  like  some  other  fashions  in  wearing  ap- 
parel,  has  no  foundation  in  reason. 

I  found  to  my  disappointment  that  Tolstoy  is  not  contributing 
materially  to  the  political  revolution  that  is  taking  place  in  Russia. 
Being  revered  throughout  the  land  not  only  because  of  his  philosophy, 
but  also  because  of  his  fearless  arraignment  of  the  despotism  that 
has  afflicted  Russia,  he  might  be  a  powerful  factor  in  giving  direction 
to  the  popular  movement,  but  believing  that  individual  regeneration 


AROUND    THE    BALTIC  419 

furnishes  the  only  complete  emancipation  from  all  forms  of  evil,  he 
takes  but  little  interest  in  what  he  regards  as  the  smaller  and  less 
important  remedies  proposed  by  the  duma.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  it  is  wiser  to  secure  that  which  is  now  within  reach,  and 
then  press  forward  for  other  advantages,  or  to  reject  piecemeal  reforms 
in  the  hope  of  ultimately  gaining  larger  ones.  Probably  the  pioneer 
in  thought  and  the  practical  reformer  will  never  be  able  to  fully 
agree  upon  this  point. 

The  boat  ride  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Stockholm  is  one  of  unsur- 
passed beauty.  It  requires  about  thirty  hours  to  make  the  trip,  and 
of  that  time  but  two  hours  are  spent  in  the  open  sea,  the  remainder 
of  the  route  being  between  islands  that  fill  the  Baltic  and  the  Gulf 
of  Finland  as  the  stars  stud  the  sky.  Just  out  of  St.  Petersburg  is 
Russia's  most  important  naval  station,  where  we  saw  a  number  of 
warships  and  were  informed  that  the  crew  of  one  of  them  hud 
recently  refused  to  comply  with  a  sailing  order,  answering  that  it  was 
.waiting  to  see  what  the  duma  would  do. 

Until  about  a  hundred  years  ago  Finland  was  a  part  of  the  Baltic 
Empire,  of  which  Sweden  was  the  head,  and  of  the  three  million 
inhabitants  of  Finland,  something  like  twenty  per  cent  are  of  Swedish 
descent.  As  might  be  expected,  the  Swedish  element  was  not  only  the 
official  element,  enjoying  to  a  large  extent  the  titles  of  nobility,  but 
it  is  still  the  wealthier  and  more  influential  portion.  The  Finns 
proper  are  not  Laplanders,  as  their  northern  position  would  suggest, 
neither  are  they  in  race  closely  akin  to  the  Slavic  or  Scandinavian 
population.  As  mentioned  in  the  article  on  Hungary,  they  came 
from  western  Asia  and  are  quite  distinct  in  race  characteristics  from 
their  present  neighbors.  They  acquired  from  their  Swedish  con- 
querors a  fondness  for  the  public  school,  and  the  percentage  of  illit- 
eracy is  much  less  in  Finland  than  in  other  parts  of  Russia,  under 
whose  dominion  they  unwillingly  came  in  1808. 

Our  boat  stopped  at  Helsingfors  for  a  few  hours,  and  we  had  an 
opportunity  to  visit  the  principal  points  of  interest  in  the  capital  of 
Finland.  It  is  a  substantial  and  prosperous  looking  city  with  large 
school  houses,  attractive  public  buildings  and  commodious  churches. 
We  passed  several  small  parks  where  children  were  playing  and 
where  numerous  comfortable  seats  beckoned  the  weary  to  rest  beneath 
the  shade.  I  confess  to  a  partiality  for  the  small  city  park;  it  is 
much  better  to  have  these  breathing  spaces  so  scattered  about  through 
densely  populated  sections  that  the  children,  as  well  as  the  adults, 
can  find  in  them  a  daily  refuge  than  to  have  the  entire  park  fund 
lavished  upon  suburban  parks,  which  can  only  be  visited  occasionally. 


420 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


It  is  a  pity  that  space  is  not  more  often  reserved  for  these  parks  in 
the  laying  out  of  town.-,  fm-  the  ground  not  only  becomes  more  valu- 
able in  proportion  as  these  small  parks  are  the  more  needed,  but  the 
opening  of  them  in  the  heart  of  a  city  brings  a  large  unearned  incre 
menl   l<>  those  who  own  land  adjacent   to  them. 

We  could  not  help  noticing  the  contrast  between  the  market  ot 
Helsingfors  and  those  which  we  visited  in  Asia.  At  the  former 
neatly  dressed  peasants,  men  and  women,  exposed  for  sale  from  the 
end  of  their  carts  a 
bountiful  simply  of 
vegetables,  meat.-,  but- 
ter, egg-  and  cheese. 
The  eggs  were  stamped 
with  the  name  of  the 
owner  and  the  date  of 
laying,  the  butter  was 
packed  in  wooden 
buckets  of  various  sizes, 
and  the  cheese  was  of 
many  varieties.  Some 
of  the  carts  were  Filled 
with  stacks  of  black 
bread  baked  in  large 
flat  cake-.  The  rad- 
ishes presented  a  temp- 
tation that  I  was  not 
able  to  withstand:  the 
fondues-  for  them,  re- 
trained d  u  r  i  n  g  the 
months  of  travel 
through  the  Orient, 
overcame  me,  and  a1 
the  risk  of  b  e  i  n  g 
thought  extravagant,  I 
purchased  five  dozen  at  a  gross  outlay  of  about  five  cents  and  lived  high 
until  they  were  all  gone. 

The  Finns  are  rejoicing  over  the  autonomy  recently  secured,  and 
they  have  signalized  their  partial  independence  by  creating  a  single 
parliamentary  body  whose  representatives  are  elected  by  the  entire 
population,  male  and  female,  above  the  age  of  twenty-four.  No  one 
can  understand  the  persistency  with  which  the  Finns  have  struggled 


KING  OSCAR  OF   SWEDEN. 


AROUND    THE    BALTIC  421 

I'd.  constitutional  government  withoul  recalling  that,  as  a  part  of 
Sweden,  their  country  long  enjoyed  the  right  to  representation  in  the 
nation's  councils.  The  people  have  always  resented  Russian  methods, 
and  only  a  few  years  ago  the  governor  general  sent  from  St.  Peters- 
burg was  assassinated  by  a  young  Finn  who.  having  thus  given  expres 
sion  to  his  nation's  hatred  of  despotism,  immediately  look  his  own 
life.  The  death  of  the  governor  was  followed  by  the  suspension  of 
such  few  privileges  as  the  people  had  been  enjoying,  but  when  last 
year  the  whole  of  Russia  seemed  about  to  rise  in  rebellion,  the  czar 
announced  his  willingness  to  grant  all  that  was  asked,  and  now  one 
can  travel  through  Finland  without  being  harassed  by  soldier.-  or 
bothered  about  passports. 

If  Constantinople  can  claim  to  he  the  natural  capital  of  the  east- 
ern hemisphere,  Stockholm  can  with  equal  justice  claim  to  be  its 
natural  summer  resort.  It  is  situated  at  a  point  where  a  chain  of 
lakes  pours  it.-  Hood  into  the  Baltic,  so  that  the  citizens  of  Sweden's 
capital  have  their  choice  between  the  fresh  water  and  the  salt.  As 
the  lakes  and  the  sea  are  filled  with  innumerable  islands,  each  family 
can  have  one  for  itself.  Summer  home-  are  probably  more  numer- 
ous near  Stockholm,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  than  anywhere 
i  Ise,  because  during  the  winter  months  the  people  live  in  flats.  One 
is  immediately  struck  with  the  compactness  of  the  city  and  with  the 
absence  of  -ingle  dwellings  surrounded  by  yards.  Owing  to  the  severe 
cold  and  the  long,  dark  days  of  winter,  the  people  huddle  together 
in  great  blocks  and  thus  economize  fuel,  and  they  are  at  the  same 
tune  close  to  their  work.  As  soon  as  .spring  opens  there  is  a  general 
movement  toward  the  island.-,  and  as  we  approached  Stockholm  from 
the  Baltic  and  left  it  through  the  lakes,  we  saw  a  great  many  summer 
cottages  and  watched  the  boats  carrying  their  cargoes  of  passengers  to 
and  fro. 

Sweden's  lake-  are  so  numerous  and  so  large  that  about  eight  per 
cent  of  her  entire  area  is  given  up  to  these  internal  waterways,  and 
they  probably  account  for  the  fact  that  her  people  had  a  large  domes- 
tic commerce  before  the  era  of  railroads.  These  lakes  are  so  situated 
that  by  connecting  them  by  canals  water  transit  has  been  secured 
between  Stockholm  on  the  east  coasl  and  Gothenburg  on  the  west. 
The  boat  trip  through  these  lakes  and  canals  is  one  of  the  most 
pleasant   to  be  found   in   Europe. 

The  Swed.-  who  have  come  to  the  United  States  are  such  excellent 
farmers  that  I  was  surprised  to  find  but  twelve  per  cent  of  the  area 
of  Sweden  devoted  to  agriculture  and  fifty-one  per  cent  described  as 
woodland.     Only  fifty-five  per  cent  of  the  population  is  now  engaged 


422  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

in  farming-,  the  proportion  having  fallen  from  seventy-two  per  cenl 
since  1870,  while  the  proportion  engaged  in  other  industries  has 
risen  from  fifteen  to  twenty-seven  per  cent. 

Lumbering,  fishing  and  shipping  each  gives  employment  to  a  large 
number  of  men,  and  iron  mining,  long  a  leading  industry,  is  still 
important,  although,  owing  to  the  development  of  mines  elsewhere, 
Sweden  now  furnishes  but  one  per  cent  of  the  entire  output  of  ore 
as  against  ten  per  cent  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  fact  that 
she  had  such  an  abundant  supply  of  the  raw  material  early  gave  her  a 
conspicuous  place  in  iron  manufactures,  arid  the  familiarity  with 
this  metal  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  Sweden  was  quick  to  take 
advantage  of  the  railroad,  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone.  In  elec- 
trical appliances  she  now  claims  a  second  place  among  the  nations. 
A  large  use  has  also  been  made  of  the  water  power  with  which  the 
country  abounds,  notably  at  Norrkoping,  where  an  industrial  expo- 
sition is  now  in  progress. 

We  spent  a  day  at  this  exposition  for  the  purpose  of  gathering 
information  in  regard  to  industrial  Sweden.  While  the  agricultural 
display  was  not  ready,  the  exhibit  of  the  products  of  the  factory  was 
exceedingly  interesting.  The  articles  shown  included  metal  work  of 
all  kinds  and  varieties,  from  heavy  machinery  to  parlor  ornaments. 
In  one  section  canned  fruit  was  displayed,  in  another  great  rolls  of 
linoleum  and  oilcloth,  and  in  still  another  textile  fabrics.  The  cloth 
was  especially  worthy  of  notice,  being  of  superior  quality  and  of 
every  color.  There  was  also  a  complete  assortment  of  dairy  imple- 
ments and  farm  tools.  So  skillful  is  the  Swedish  artisan  that  the 
International  Harvester  Company  has  recently  established  a  branch 
factory  at  Norrkoping,  and  with  the  aid  of  American  foremen  is 
preparing  to  manufacture  reapers  and  mowers  there,  not  only  for 
Sweden  but  for  northern  Europe. 

In  addition  to  the  machine-made  exhibits,  there  were  specimens  of 
the  handwork  of  peasants  and  students.  These  included  many  varie- 
ties  of  needlework,  wood  carving,  and  decoration  on  leather  and  bark. 
Peasant  girls  in  native  costume  presided  over  these  displays  and  gave 
the  visitor  a  glimpse  of  the  picturesque  garb  now  fast  disappearing 
before  the  prosaic  dress  of  the  cities.  At  Skansen,  in  the  suburbs 
of  Stockholm,  and  at  a  few  of  the  enterprising  stores,  this  quaint 
costume  may  still  be  seen,  but  it  is  not  generally  worn  now  even  in 
the  country. 

There  is  a  gallery  at  Norrkoping  exposition  where  one  may  see 
a  collection  of  Swedish  and  Danish  art,  the  pictures  not  only  por- 


AROUND    THE    BALTIC  423 

traying  the  familiar  features  and  flaxen  hair  of  the  north,  hut  recall- 
ing the  long  nights  and  the  winter  scenes  of  thai   Latitude. 

Sweden  was  a  pioneer  in  the  matter  of  universal  education  and  has 
at  Upsala  a  state  university   founded   in    1177 — fifteen   years   before 

Columbus  sailed  for  America.  She  has  al.-u  had  a  college  of  medi- 
cine for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  and  her  sons  have  taken  high 
rank  in  all  the  departments  of  science.  Her  grammar  schools  run 
back  to  the  time  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and  her  common  school 
system  is  almost  as  old.  She  has  given  to  the  world  among  other 
things  the  Sloyd  system  of  teaching,  which  combines  manual  training 
with  mental  instruction.  Sweden  has  shown  by  her  prominence  in 
literature,  science,  art  and  music  that  the  higher  altitudes  do  not  chill 
the  imagination  or  repress  genius,  and  yet,  the  country  is  even  more 
noted  for  the  high  average  of  intelligence  among  the  people  than  for 
the  extraordinary  accomplishments  of  a  few. 

The  Swedish  language  contains  so  many  words  that  resemble  the 
English  that  the  Swedish  newspaper  looks  much  more  familiar  than 
the  Greek  or  the  Russian,  but  it  is  not  always  safe  to  rely  upon  the 
similarity  in  spelling.  For  instance,  "rum"  means  room,  and  when 
it  appears  in  a  window  or  on  a  door,  it  is  only  an  innocent  announce- 
ment that  travelers  can  find  accommodation  within.  The  word 
"bad"  means  bath,  and  "bad  rum,"  therefore,  is  a  familiar  sign  in 
hotels. 

Sweden  has  her  political  problems  like  all  the  other  nations,  and 
just  now  her  people  are  absorbed  in  the  question  of  extending  the 
suffrage.  The  upper  house  is  an  aristocratic  body  composed  of  rep- 
resentatives of  the  wealthier  classes.  In  electing  members  to  this 
body  a  rich  man's  vote  counts  for  more  than  a  poor  man's  vote,  it 
being  possible  for  the  richest  person  to  have  about  ten  times  as  many 
votes  as  the  poorest.  As  might  be  expected,  the  upper  house  is  con- 
servative and  stands  in  the  way  of  some  of  the  reforms  proposed  by 
the  more  popular  branch.  The  last  ministry  was  a.  liberal  one,  but 
resigned  when  the  upper  house  defeated  the  measure  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  suffrage.  The  new  ministry  has  at  its  head  Mr.  Lindmann. 
a  business  man  who  represents  the  commercial  and  conservative  ele- 
ments, and  his  party  is  willing  to  accept  an  extension  of  the  fran- 
chise, provided  it  is  coupled  with  minority  representation,  the  aim 
being  to  increase  the  conservative  strength  in  the  lower  house  in 
order  to  protect  the  upper  house  from  attack.  The  conservatives 
fear — and  not  without  reason — that  an  overwhelming  liberal  majority 
in  the  popular  branch  would  soon  endanger  the  aristocratic  character, 
if  not  the  very  existence  of  the  upper  house.     The  situation  is  inter- 


424  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

esting  in   that  it  indicates  the  growth  of  radicalism  in  the  country. 
The  conservatives   recognize  this  and   are  prepared   to   make  con< 
sions;  they  hope  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  movement  but  realize, 
that  they  cannot  defeat  it  entirely. 

Industrial  questions  are  receiving  consideration  in  Sweden;  laws 
concerning  child  labor  have  heen  enacted,  accident  insurance  has 
been  provided,  and  an  old  age  pen-ion  is  being  discussed.  Attention 
is  also  being  given  to  the  housing  problem  in  the  cities,  to  farm  allot- 
ment- and  to  the  establishment  of  labor  bureaus  and  boards  of  arbi- 
tration. The  Gothenburg  license  system  is  in  operation  in  Sweden, 
under  which  the  sale  of  liquor,  where  the  sale  is  not  entirely  pro- 
hibited, is  in  the  hands  of  semi-official  corporations.  Whether  this 
system  is  responsible  for  it  or  not  may  be  open  to  question,  but 
statistics  show  that  there  has  been  a  large  decrease  in  the  sale  of 
beverages  containing  a.  high  percentage  of  alcohol. 

By  the  courtesy  of  the  American  minister,  Colonel  Graves,  I  had 
an  opportunity  to  pay  my  respects  to  King  Oscar  II.  I  was  glad  to  do 
so  for  two  reasons:  First,  because  so  many  of  his  former  subjects 
have  become  American  citizens;  and,  second,  because  of  the  honorable 
part  which  he  played  in  the  recent  crisis  which  resulted  in  the  sepa- 
ration of  Sweden  and  Norway.  lie  is  of  powerful  frame,  and  though 
seventy-seven  years  old,  would  pass  for  a  much  younger  man.  He 
has  a  kindly  face  and  rides  about  the  city  without  a  guard.  A  more 
ambitious  monarch  would  have  met  Norway's  demand  with  armed 
resistance,  but  he,  recognizing  that  the  holding  of  Norway  against 
the  will  of  the  people  would  involve  his  country  in  perpetual  strife, 
advocated  a  peaceful  separation,  provided  the  people  of  Norway  asked 
for  it  in  unmistakable  terms. 

For  thirty  years  he  had  been  the  sovereign  of  both,  and  in  his  old 
lie  could  not  bear  to  see  the  two  countries  engaged  in  a  bloody 
conflict.  He  is  just  now  criticised  by  some  who  did  not  become 
sanguinary  until  all  prospect  of  war  was  past,  but  he  has  the  con- 
solation of  knowing  that  his  critics  are  not  only  alive  but  have  no 
dead  relatives  to  mourn.  Had  he  plunged  his  country  into  war,  his 
critics  could  remind  him  of  vacant  chairs  at  the  fireside. 

King  Oscar  has,  in  a  most  practical  way,  proved  himself  to  be  a 
promoter  of  peace  and  as  such  deserves  the  prize  provided  by  that 
greal  Swedish  chemist,  Alfred  Nobel.  By  giving  conspicuous  approval 
to  his  course,  the  trustees  of  the  Nobel  fund  may  be  able  to  encourage 
other  sovereigns  to  imitate  him. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

DEMOCRATIC  NORWAY— HER   SUN,  HER  SCENERY 

AND  HER  CORONATION'. 

Norway  was  so  full  of  attractions  al  the  time  of  our  visit  thai  I  am  at  a 
loss  to  know  in  what  order  to  treat  of  them.  As  those  things  which  are 
permanent  will  interest  a  larger  number  than  the  transient  ceremonies 
attending  the  crowning  of  a  new  king,  1  shall  give  the  preference  to  the 
mos1  distinguishing  feature  of  Norway,  that  which  has  been  interwoven 
with  her  name,  viz.,  (he  midnighl  sun.  Owing  to  its  accessibility  and  \<> 
the  fact  that  its  climate  is  moderated  by  the  influence  of  the  <  mil'  stream, 
the  coast  of  upper  Norway  furnishes  the  best  opportunity  which  Euro- 
peans have  to  mount  the  Arctic  merry-go-round  and  view  the  sun 
through  the  whole  nightless  day.  It  is  a  weird  experience,  this  passing 
from  day  to  day  without  intervening  darkness,  and  one  returns  from  it 
somewhat  exhausted,  for  the  light  tempts  him  to  encroach  upon  the 
hours  of  sleep. 

The  North  Cape,  the  northernmost  point  of  the  continent  of  Europe, 
is  usually  the  destination  of  the  tourist,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  so 
far  to  see  all  that  there  is  worth  seeing.  There  are  several  towns  above  the 
Arctic  circle  where  for  several  weeks  the  sun  never  sinks  to  the  horizon. 
At  Bodo,  which  is  but  little  more  than  a  days  ride  by  boat  from  Trond- 
hjem,  the  sun  is  visible  at  midnight  from  May  30  to  July  11.  At  Ilam- 
merfest,  which  is  the  terminus  of  some  of  the  steamboat  lines  and  which 
claims  to  be  the  northernmost  town  in  the  world,  the  son  docs  not  set 
between  May  13  and  July  28,  while  at  Tromso,  not  quite  so  far  north 
as  Ilammerfest,  the  inhabitants  have  but  ten  days  less  of  the  midnight 
sun. 

We  stopped  at  Svolvaer,  one  of  the  chief  fishing  stations  of  the  Lofo- 
den  Islands,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  north  of  the  Arctic  circle.  We 
arrived  about  seven  in  the  evening,  and  would  have  seen  the  sun  the 
previous  night  but  for  a  bank  of  clouds  behind  which  it  passed  at  about 
11:30.  Svolvaer  nestles  at  the  foot  of  some  snow-crowned  peaks  which 
shut  out  the  northern  horizon,  and  it  is  necessary  to  go  out  into  the 
open  sea  or  to  climb  a  mountain  to  gel  an  uninterrupted  view.  With 
our  usual  good  luck  we  found  an  English-speaking  Norwegian  who  had 

425 


426 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS   WAYS 


studied  in  the  United  States,  and  with  him  to  direct  us,  we  spent  a  mem- 
orable night  among  the  islands. 

The  channel  to  the  north,  known  as  Raftsund,  is  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque along  the  entire  coast,  and  the  Troldfjord  which  leads  from 
it  through  a  rockbound  gorge  to  the  outlet  of  a  famous  mountain  lake, 
is  not  surpassed  in  rugged  grandeur.  Troldfjord  deserves  to  be  described 
by  a  poet,  for  prose  can  not  do  it  justice.  If  any  of  my  readers  have 
ever  passed  through  the  Royal  Gorge  in  southern  Colorado,  they  may 
understand  me  when  I  say  that  Troldfjord  is  a  Royal  Gorge  with  its' 
1  walls  widened  to  a  quarter  of  a  mile  and  lengthened  to  a  mile,  and 
the  space  between  them  filled  with  a  transparent  sea,  whose  surface  per- 


" 

Hi 

■s^ 

> 

■ 

L 

H 

*% 

t 

X 

■        ' 

>*■   1 

ft  aji 

1? 

W* 

''/: 

<,,u  *.-■,,..  I 

THE  VIKIXG  SHIP  AT   CHRISTIANIA. 


fectly  mirrors  every  rock  and  shrub.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  fjord 
is  a  majestic  cascade,  the  dashing,  splashing,  foaming  outlet  of  the 
lake  two  hundred  feet  above.  Our  launch  ceased  its  throbbing  and 
sat  swanlike  on  the  fathomless  water,  while  we  feasted  our  eyes  upon 
a  picture  so  beautiful  that  darkness  hesitates  to  draw  a  curtain  over 
it-  charms. 

The  mountain.  Digermulkollen,  selected  as  an  observation  point,  is 
on  the  Raftsund  and  not  far  from  the  Troldfjord.  I  can  not  give  its 
height,  but  when  I  guessed  at  it  before  the  ascent,  I  put  it  at  five  or  six 
hundred  feet ;  after  ascending  it  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  a  thou- 
sand.   We  timed  our  trip  so  as  to  reach  the  top  at  midnight,  slaking  our 


DEMOCRATIC    NORWAY 


427 


thirst  from  the  snowbanks  along  the  trail,  and  it  was  the  fault  of  the 
clouds  that  we  did  not  see  the  orb  of  day — at  this  season  and  in  this  lati- 
tude he  is  orb  of  the  night  as  well — as  he  reached  the  lowest  point;  but 
they  were  kind  to  us  a  little  later,  for  through  a  rift  in  them  we  saw 
the  face  of  old  Sol  just  long  enough  to  be  sure  that  he.  like  ourselves, 
was  up  for  all  night.  Even  though  the  clouds  concealed  the  sun  at  the 
witching  hour  of  midnight,  the  light  was  the  light  of  day.  and  I  had 
no  difficulty  in  reading  a  paper  (which  truth,  as  well  as  loyalty  to 
my  own  publication,  compels  me  to  say  was  The  Commoner).     The 


IN    IIJOREXDFIORD. 


fact  that  we  almosl  missed  seeing  the  sun  at  all  leads  me  to  remark 
that  many  make  the  entire  trip  without  catching  a  glimpse  of  it.  We 
were  informed  thai  an  excursion  steamer  had  gone  to  the  North  Cape 
and  back  in  mist  and  rain  just  a  few  days  before.  It  had  not  occurred 
to  us  in  planning  our  visit  to  Norway  that  cloudy  weather  had  to  be 
taken  into  consideration,  but  we  found  that  clear  nights  are  the  excep- 
tion rather  than  the  rule,  especially  during  the  latter  part  of  the  season. 
Svolvaer  is  a  quiet  place  in  summer,  but  during  January,  February 
and  March  its  little  harbor  is  full  of  fishing  smacks,  for  thirty  thousand 


428 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


n icn  fish  in  the  waters  of  the  Lofoden  Islands.   Cod  is  the  principal  fish 
taken  and  codliver  oil  is  one  of  the  chief  products  of  the  islands.   Im- 
mense quantities  of  dried  fish  are  shipped  to  southern  Europe,  while  the    ' 
fresh  and  salted  fish  find  a  market  in  the  British  Isles  and  <  termany. 

If  one  desires  to  see  merely  fjords,  glaciers,  lakes  and  mountain 
streams,  the  southern  part  of  Norway  offers  a  sufficient  variety  of  each. 
Bergen,  the  principal  city  on  the  west  coast,  the  second  city  in  the  coun- 
try and  a  former  member  of  the  Hanseatic  League,  is  the  seaport  of  this 
northern  Switzerland.  With  the  Sogne  Fjord  on  the  north,  Hardanger 
Fjord  on  the  south  and  west  and  a  chain  of  lakes  almost  connecting  the 


TROLDFJOPJX 


two.  one  caii  see  every  variety  of  scenery  in  a  three  days'  trip  around 
Bergen.  As  we  had  but  two  days  to  spend  there,  we  had  to  miss  the 
northern  fjord,  but  Hardanger,  the  twenty-one,  mile  ride  across  the 
mountains  and  the  railroad  from  Voss  back  to  Bergen,  furnished  such  a 
wealth  of  scenery  that  another  day  could  hardly  have  added  much  to  our 
enjoyment. 

Taking  a  boat  at  Bergen,  we  devoted  eleven  hours  to  winding  about 
through  Hardanger  Fjord,  and  every  moment  presented  some  new  at- 
traction.  These  fjords  seem  to  have  been  formed  by  a  convulsion  that 


DEMOCRATIC    NORWAY  429 

opened  great  cracks  in  the  mountains  which  line  the  coasl  of  Norway. 
]n  some  places  the  shores  are  precipitous  cliffs,  reaching  from  the  water 
upwards  for  hundreds  of  feet,  but  for  mosl  of  the  way  the  banks  slope 
back  and  are  covered  with  stunted  pines  and  undergrowth.  Scattered 
all  along  the  way  are  innumerable  cascade-  and  waterfalls,  varying  in 
width  from  a  few  inches  to  many  feet.  At  one  place  we  counted  eleven 
of  these  in  sight  at  one  time,  and  we  were  never  oul  of  hearing  of  their 
music.  Some  ot  them  are  harnessed  to  little  sawmills.  At  one  point  the 
boat  halted  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  a  ureal  glacier,  which  is 
crawling  down  a  mountain  gorge,  and  from  whose  month,  as  from  a 
fountain,  gushes  a  ceaseless  stream.  For  ages  this  mass  of  ice  has  been 
slowly  moving  down  from  the  mountains,  and  every  day  tons  upon 
tons  melt  and  disappear,  hid  its  losses  at  its  base  are  made  good  at  its 
top,  and  it  lives  on  like  the  human  race,  ever  dying  and  ye1  ever  young. 

Disembarking  at  Eide  we  took  a  four-hours  carriage  ride,  following  a 
mountain  stream  to  its  source,  crossing  the  range  at  an  elevation  of  a 
thousand  feet  and  descending  along  another  stream  to  the  lake  upon 
which  the  village  of  Voss  is  situated.  From  this  point  a  scenic  railroad, 
which  passes  through  fifty-two  tunnels  in  seventy  miles,  took  us  back  to 
Bergen.  As  might  be  gathered  from  what  has  already  been  said,  Norway 
doe-  not  impress  the  tourist  as  a  farmer's  paradise,  although  agriculture 
is  first  among  her  industries.  The  farms,  as  seen  from  the  route-  of  trav- 
el, seem  very  diminutive  and  are  usually  triangular  in  form  and  look- 
like  wedges  inserted  in  the  cracks  of  the  mountains.  Occasionally  a  val- 
ley is  broad  enough  to  invite  the  cultivation  of  a  level  piece  of  land  and 
the  invitation  was  long  ago  accepted.  Potatoes  grow  well  in  Norway  and 
are  of  excellent  flavor.  On  the  coast  boats  they  furnished  the  staple,  and 
sometimes  almost  the  only,  vegetable,  although  the  bill  of  fare  often  in- 
cluded seven  different  kinds  of  fish,  nearly  as  many  varieties  of  cold 
meat,  half  as  many  brands  of  cheese,  besides  wdiite,  brown  and  black 
bread.  Rye,  barley  and  wheat  are  grown  in  the  southern  districts  and 
grass  everywhere.  Owing  to  the  frequent  showers  and  the  long  days  ff 
summer,  grass  grows  very  rapidly,  but  as  it  is  difficult  to  cure  it,  the 
people  have  adopted  a  plan  which  looks  peculiar  to  foreigners.  They 
build  frames  that  look  like  sections  of  a  fence  and  the  green  hay  is  hung 
upon  the  boards  or  wire  as  the  case  may  be.  The  lower  rows  are  pro- 
tected from  the  rain  by  the  upper  one,  and  the  air  has  access  to  all  of  it. 

About  three  hour-'  drive  from  Bergen  there  is  a  little  wooded  island 
on  which  the  great  Norwegian  violinist,  Ole  Bull,  built  a  summer  home 
where  he  was  wont  to  retire  at  the  conclusion  of  his  tours  and  where  at 
last  he  died,  lie  was  not  only  a.  great  admirer  of  American  institutions 
and  of  the  American  people  in  general,  but  he  married  an  American, 


430 


THE    OLD    WORLD    ANl5    ITS    WAYS 


and  his  daughter  returns  to  Norway  every  year  to  celebrate  May  17, 
Norway's  independence  day,  at  her  father's  home  and  with  her  father's 
countrymen.  The  daughter  is  one  of  the  many  connecting  links  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  and  by  her  invitation,  extended  through  our 
consul,  Mr.  Cunningham,  we  had  the  privilege  of  visiting  this  historic- 


OLE   BULL. 

spot.  We  were  glad  to  do  so,  because  6le  Bull  was  not  only  one  of  the 
great  musicians  of  the  last  century,  but  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  demo- 
crats that  Norway  has  produced — a  democrat  not  in  a  partisan  sense, 
but  in  that  broader  sense  in  which  it  describes  one  who  believes  in  the 
people,  trusts  them  and  labors  for  their  welfare. 


DEMOCRATIC    NORWAY  431 

There  are  many  public  men  in  Norway  worthy  of  mention,  but  space 
forbids  an  enumeration  of  them.  There  is,  however,  a  relic  of  great  his- 
toric interest  to  which  I  must  devote  a  line.  It  is  the  Viking  Ship,  a 
thousand  years  old,  now  on  exhibition  at  Christiania.  It  was  dug  up 
twenty-five  years  ago  and  is  fairly  well  preserved.  It  gives  one  an  idea 
of  the  ships*  used  by  those  early  seamen  of  the  north  whose  daring 
exploits  make  fiction  seem  tame. 

It  so  happened  that  we  arrived  in  Norway  just  in  time  to  attend  the 
coronation  of  King  Haakon  VII.,  and  we  had  our  first  opportunity  to 
see  royalty  on  parade.  The  newT  king  is  a  son  of  the  king  of  Denmark, 
and  his  wife,  Queen  Maud,  is  daughter  of  the  king  of  England.  When, 
last  year,  Norway  withdrew  from  her  union  with  Sweden,  the  crown 
was  offered  to  a  son  of  King  Oscar,  but  the  offer  was  refused,  and  it  is 
probably  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Norwegians  expected  it  to  be  re- 
fused, but  they  wanted  to  show  that  separation  was  not  due  to  antag- 
onism to  the  reigning  house.  It  was  then  tendered  to  the  son  of  King 
Frederick  and  accepted.  I  shall  speak  later  of  the  circumstances  which 
explain  this  selection ;  it  is  sufficient  at  present  to  say  that  the  new  king 
is  a  sober,  earnest,  sensible  looking  young  man  of  about  thirty-five  and 
seems  to  have  made  a  very  favorable  impression  upon  the  Norwegian 
people.  By  the  courtesy  of  Minister  Graves,  who  represents  our  country 
at  Stockholm,  and  who,  our  minister  to  Norway  not  having  received  his 
appointment  in  time,  was  our  nation's  special  ambassador  to  attend  the 
coronation,  we  received  invitations  to  the  coronation  ceremonies  and 
were  presented  at  court.  While  the  newspaper  reports  of  the  coronation 
may  rob  what  I  am  about  to  say  of  some  of  its  freshness  as  news,  I  shall 
venture  to  describe  what  we  saw,  begging  the  reader's  indulgence  if  I 
betray  a  lack  of  familiarity  with  the  technical  nhrases  employed  on 
such  occasions. 

The  coronation  took  place  at  Trondhjem,  the  former  capital,  a  city 
situated  on  one  of  the  numerous  fjords  that  indent  the  western  coast. 
The  building  selected  for  the  occasion  was  the  Gothic  cathedral,  the 
largest  in  Scandinavia,  which  was  commenced  in  the  eleventh,  and  com- 
pleted in  the  fourteenth  century.  It  is  a  historic  building  and  belonged 
to  the  Bishopric  of  which  Ireland  was  a  part  before  America  was  dis- 
covered by  Columbus.  The  cathedral  has  suffered  from  several  fires,  and 
a  part  of  it  was  in  ruins  for  three  centuries.  It  is  nowT  sufficiently  re- 
stored to  furnish  a  larger  audience  room  than  is  to  be  found  in  most 
cities  of  the  size.  Under  the  dome  a  circular  space  was  left  for  the  royal 
party  while  the  visitors  were  seated,  the  foreign  representatives  nearest 
the  center,  on  raised  seats  in  the  nave  and  transepts.  A  broad  aisle  was 
left,  extending  from  the  entrance  through  the  center  to  the  chapel  at 


432  THE    OLD    WORLD    AXD    ITS    WAYS 

the  other  end.  Just  before  time  for  the  king  to  arrive,  a  company  of 
white-robed  Lutheran  priests  marched  from  the  chapel  to  the  door,  and 
a  stalwart  body  of  men  they  were.  They  marched  back  at  the  head  of 
the  procession,  the  king  following,  his  crimson,  ermine-lined  robe  trail- 
ing many  feet  behind — or  it  would  have  trailed  but  for  the  fact  that  it 
was  carried  by  four  attendant.-.  The  king  was  accompanied  by  several 
officers  and  followed  by  the  standard  bearer  holding  aloft  the  royal 
banner.  Then  came  the  queen  wearing  a  robe  similar  to  the  king's,  but 
it  only  required  three  attendants  to  keep  its  folds  from  the  floor.  She 
was  attended  by  three  maids  of  honor.  The  king  and  queen  were  es- 
corted to  thrones  on  opposite  sides  of  the  aisle,  and  the  representative- 
of  royal  families  occupied  seat-  next  to  them.  The  Prince  of  Wales  gat 
nearest  the  queen,  next  to  him  Prince  Henry  of  Germany,  and  the 
American  ambassador  next.  Near  the  king  sat  Denmark's  representa- 
tive, then  Russia's,  and  next  to  him  the  representative  from  France. 
There  was  gold  braid  galore;  some  of  the  foreign  representatives  had 
enough  on  their  clothes  to  put  the  Sultan  of  Sulu  to  shame.'  I  never 
before  saw  so  much  gold,  'and  I  have  been  wondering  since  whether 
there  may  not  be  a  new  yellow  peril  of  which  our  financiers  have  little 
dreamed.  Our  representatives  used  less  of  this  ornamentation  (they  all 
wore  military  uniforms)  than  those  of  any  other  country,  and  the  ques- 
tion arises,  what  is  going  to  become  of  the  honest  dollar  if.  with  the 
-I  .read  of  the  ideas  of  a  republic,  the  amount  of  gold  braid  is  decrea-ed 
and  a  vast  quantity  of  gold  is  poured  through  the  mints  into  the  volume 
of  the  world's  currency?  It  might  so  enlarge  the  volume  of  money  as 
to  make  the  money  changers  clamor  for  the  demonetization  of  gold, 
and,  then  the  silverites  would  be  called  gold  bug-  for  insisting  upon 
the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  gold. 

After  some  excellent  music,  instrumental  and  vocal,  a  member  of  the 
clergy  ascended  a  pulpit  not  far  from  the  king  and  queen  and  delivered 
an  earnest  address.  He  was  a  typical  Norwegian,  powerful  of  frame  and 
strong  of  bice — such  as  we  might  imagine  one  of  the  Viking  chiefs  to 
have  been.  Then  there  was  more  music,  and  it  may  interest  the  readers 
to  know  that  all  the  music  was  prepared  for  the  occasion,  the  words  of 
the  cantata  being  by  the  pastor  of  the  church,  and  the  hymns  being 
written  in  the  language  of  the  peasants.  Finally  the  king  arose,  pro- 
led  down  the  aisle  to  the  chapel  and  kneeling,  received  from  the 
bishop  the  insignia  of  office,  the  crown  being  placed  upon  his  head,  a 
jiold  chain  about  his  neck,  a  sceptre  in  one  hand  and  a  golden  globe  in 
the  other.  As  sood  as  be  returned  to  the  throne,  the  queen  advanced  to 
the  chapel  and  was  likewise  invested,  and  then  the  premier,  Mr.  Michel- 


DEMOCRATIC    NORWAY 


433 


son,  proposed  a  salute  to  the  king  and  queen.    The  people  responded 
with  earnestness  and  the  exercises  were  ('included. 

I  do  not  expect  to  witness  another  coronation,  and  it  will  be  some 
satisfaction  to  remember  that  the  first  and  only  one  attended  was  that 
of  a  king  whom  the  people  of  their  own  accord  selected;  for  if  there  is 
anything  more  democratic  than  a  republican  form  of  government,  it  is 
the  fundamental  principle  that  the  people  have  a  righl  to  have  whatever 
form  of  government  they  desire.  Jefferson  emphasized  this  doctrine 
when  the  people  of  Prance  called  Napoleon  to  the  throne,  and  it  has 
Uihle  sanction  as  well,  for  when  the  children  of  [srael  still  demanded  a 


KING    HAAKON    AND    QUEEN     MAUD. 


king,  even  after  Samuel  explained  what  a  king  would  do,  he  was  told 
to  let  them  have  their  way. 

The  next  day  we  put  on  our  best  clothes  and  joined  the  line  that 
passed  before  the  king  and  queen.  It  was  not  a  very  satisfying 
experience,  but  it  is  worth  something  to  know  how  such  things  are  done, 
and  I  may  add,  the  more  an  American  sees  of  it,  the  more  he  appre- 
ciates the  simplicity  of  public  life  in  his  own  country. 

Norway,  in  spite  of  the  choosing  of  a  king,  is  the  most  democratic 
country  in  northern  Europe.  She  has  no  nobility,  confers  no  titles  and 
had  to  go  outside  of  her  own  realm  to  find  one  of  royal  birth.   She  had 


434  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Ler  kings  and  princes  in  the  early  days,  but  one  Norwegian  statesman 
explained  to  us  that  when  they  lost  their  privileges  they  emigrated  to 
America  and  went  to  farming.  The  choice  of  a  Dane  was  not  strange, 
if  a  king  was  to  be  chosen  from  without,  for  Norway  was  united  with 
Denmark  for  more  than  three  centuries,  and  there  has  always  been  a 
friendly  feeling  between  the  two  countries.  It  was  expedient,  too,  under 
the  circumstances,  to  offer  the  crown  to  the  son  of  the  Danish  king,  for 
this  brought  Norway's  throne  into  kinship  with  the  thrones  of  England 
and  Russia,  as  well  as  with  that  of  Denmark.  In  fact,  the  circumstances 
and  the  situation  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  four-to-one  vote  in 
favor  of  a  monarchy.  When  it  is  remembered  that  Norway's  paramount 
aim  was  to  secure  independence  and  that  this  might  have  been  jeopard- 
ized by  an  attempt  to  establish  a  republic  at  the  same  time,  it  is  really 
surprising  that  one-fifth  of  the  people  had  the  courage  to  vote  to  plant 
a  republic  amid  surrounding  monarchies.  There  are  many  in  Norway 
who  prefer  a  president  to  a  king  and  who  object  to  having  two  and  a 
half -millions  of  people  taxed  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  a 
year  to  pay  the  salary  of  a  kingly  figurehead,  but  the  monarchists  reply 
that  the  king's  position  is  purely  ornamental  and  enables  the  govern- 
ment to  maintain  cordial  relations  with  other  European  countries  while 
the  people  govern  themselves  through  the  storthing.  They  point  out  that 
the  king  has  much  less  power  than  our  president.  While  this  is  true, 
they  forget  that  a  president  elected  by  the  people  and  holding  office  'but 
four  years  can  be  trusted  with  more  executive  authority  than  an  heredi- 
tary monarch.  The  storthing  has  absolute  power,  and  as  its  members 
are  elected  by  universal  suffrage  every  three  years,  and  as  there  is  but 
the  one  parliamentary  body,  public  sentiment  finds  prompt  expression 
in  the  government.  It  can  be  truthfully  said,  therefore,  that  with  the 
exception  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government,  Norway  is  thor- 
oughly democratic  and  that  the  influence  of  the  king  -s  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 

Norway  has  a  promising  future.  Her  psople  are  hardy  and  intelli- 
gent. Education  has  been  compulsory  for  fifty  years,  and  it  is  the  coun- 
try's boast  that  it  spends  more  per  capita  on  schools  than  any  other 
country  in  Europe.  Because  of  Norway's  immense  shipping  interests, 
she  demanded  a  separate  consular  service,  and  this  was  one  o*f  the 
causes  of  friction  between  her  government  and  the  government  of 
Sweden.  Norway  has  a  great  future,  and  much  is  to  be  expected  of 
her  people.  I  ler  sons  and  daughters,  those  who  have  emigrated  to 
America,  as  well  as  those  who  have  remained  at  home,  prove  to  the 
world  that  it  is  possible  for  a  people  to  acquire  the  refinements  of  civi- 
lization without  losing  their  original  strength  and  vigor. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

ENGLAND'S   NEW    LIBERAL   GOVERNMENT. 

Great  Britain  has  recently  experienced  one  of  the  greatest  political 
revolutions  she  has  ever  known.  The  conservative  party,  with  Mr.  Bal- 
four, one  of  the  ablest  of  modern  scholars,  at  its  head,  and  with  Mr.  Jo- 
seph Chamberlain,  a  powerful  orator  and  a  forceful  political  leader,  as 
its  most  conspicuous  champion,  had  won  a  sweeping  victory  after  the 
Boer  war,  and  this  victory,  following  a  long  lease  of  power,  led  the  Con- 
servatives to  believe  themselves  invincible.  They  assumed,  as  parties 
made  confident  by  success  often  do,  that  they  are  indispensable  to  the 
nation  and  paid  but  little  attention  to  the  warnings  and  threats  of  the 
Liberals.  One  mistake  after  another,  however,  alienated  the  voters  and 
the  special  elections  two  years  ago  began  to  show  a  falling  off  in  the 
Conservative  strength,  and  when  the  general  election  was  held  last  fall 
the  Liberals  rolled  up  a  majority  of  something  like  two  hundred  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  A  new  ministry  was  formed  from  among  the 
ablest  men  of  the  party — a  ministry  of  radical  and  progressive  men 
seldom  equaled  in  moral  purpose  and  intellectual  strength.  My  main 
object  in  visiting  London  at  this  time  was  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  personnel  of  the  new  government  and  learn  of  their  program. 

Before  speaking  of  the  ministers,  just  a  word  in  regard  to  the  king, 
who  is  the  head  of  the  government  whether  it  be  liberal  or  conservative. 
The  government  of  Great  Britain  is  always  in  harmony  with  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  as  the  ministers  speak  for  the  king,  he  does  not  em- 
phasize the  virtue  of  consistency,  for  he  may  be  put  in  the  attitude  of 
advocating  a  thing  to-day  and  opposing  it  to-morrow.  He  is  not  expected 
to  have  opinions  upon  public  questions  or,  if  he  has  them,  they  are 
always  presented  with  the  understanding  that  if  the  ministers  will  not 
adopt  his  views  he  will  adopt  theirs.  It  is  much  easier  to  be  a  king  now 
than  it  used  to  be  and  the  burdens  of  a  monarchy  have  been  very  much 
lightened  in  the  nations  which,  like  England,  recognize  the  omnipo- 
tence of  parliament. 

I  was  very  glad  to  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  offered  by  a  private 
audience  to  meet  his  majesty,  King  Edward,  and  to  be  assured  of  his 
personal  interest  in  the  promotion  of  peace.  The  king  has  a  very  genial 

435 


436 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


face  and  makes  the  visitor  feel  at  ease  at  once.  He  has  a  knowledge  of 
world  politics  and,  by  his  tact  and  good  nature,  has  done  much  to  pro- 
mote cordial  relations  between  his  own  and  other  countries.  It  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  correct  an  impression  that  has  gone  abroad  with  regard 
to  the  style  of  dress  required  of  those  who  are  admitted  to  the  presence 


KING  EDWARD   VII. 


of  the  king.  Because  knee  breeches  are  worn  at  court  functions  many 
have  understood,  and  I  among  them,  that  they  were  required  on  all 
occasions;  but  this  is  not  the  case.  Most  of  the  calls  made  upon  him  in- 
formally are  made  before  lunch  and  the  ordinary  black  coat  is  worn. 


ENGLAND'S    NEW    LIBERAL    GOVERNMENT  437 

The  requirements  are  not  a.s  strict  as  they  are  in  Russia,  Japan  and 
Sweden,  where  I  was  advised  to  wear  ;ni  evening  suit  for  a  morning  call. 

Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman,  a  sturdy  Scotchman,  is  the  new 
prime  minister,  and  those  who  know  him  intimately  feel  that  his  selec- 
tion is  a  vindication  of  the  doctrine  that  patience  and  courage,  when 
joined  with  merit,  are  invincible.  He  is  now  well  advanced  in  years  and 
during  his  entire  public  career  has  stood  unflinchingly  for  democratic 
ideas.  He  has  not  been  discouraged  by  the  fact  that  he  has  often  been 
in  the  minority;  on  the  contrary,  he  has  felt  as  confident  in  his  position 
when  he  has  had  to  maintain  it  amid  taunts  and  jeer-  as  when  his 
speeches  brought  forth  applause.  He  is  not  as  great  an  orator  as  Glad- 
stone, but  he  has  a  very  persuasive  manner  and  his  fine  sense  of  humor 
gives  brilliancy  to  his  speeches. 

Tn  outlining  the  policy  of  the  Liberal  party  last  December,  he  cred- 
ited the  victory  at  the  polls  to  several  causes — the  tariff  question,  the 
Chinese  question,  the  educational  problem  and  municipal  questions. 
He  pledged  his  party  to  certain  reforms  and  boldly  advocated  a  reduc- 
tion of  military'and  naval  expenses.  He  pointed  out  that  there  could 
be  no  retrenchment  in  taxation  if  the  appropriations  for  armaments 
and  for  armies  continued  to  increase.  He  has  been  called  a  "little  Eng- 
lander,"  but  that  did  not  deter  him  from  uttering  a  protesl  against 
rivalry  in  the  building  of  warships. 

In  view  of  his  utterances  in  favor  of  arbitration  and  against  militar- 
ism it  was  most  appropriate  that  he  should  deliver  the  address  of  wel- 
come at  the  recent  session  of  the  Interparliamentary  Union,  better 
known  as  the  peace  congress.  Llis  speech  on  that  occasion  was  an  epoch- 
making  deliverance.  In  no  uncertain  tones  he  threw  the  influence  of 
his  ministry  on  the  side  of  peace  and  opened  the  door  for  the  adoption 
of  a  far-reaching  proposition  in  favor  of  the  submission  of  all  questions 
to  investigation  before  hostilities  are  commenced.  He  used  the  North 
Sea  incident  as  an  illustration  and  urged  the  extension  of  the  powers  of 
the  board  of  inquiry.  His  now  famous  exclamation,  "The  Duma  is 
dead — long  live  the  Duma,"  illustrates  both  his  moral  courage  and  his 
devotion  to  representative  government.  The  sentence  was  a  part  of  his 
peace  congress  speech  and  was  uttered  in  the  presence  of  the  duma 
representatives  who  left  Russia  before  the  proroguing  of  that  body.  It 
electrified  the  audience  and  has  been  widely  commented  on  throughout 
Europe. 

Few  premiers  have  had  so  large  a  majority  back  of  them  or  pos- 
d  so  fully  the  confidence  of  their  supporters,  and  the  program  pre- 
pared by  the  ministry  is  a  most  comprehensive  one.  It  is  too  much  to 
expect  that  the  Liberal  majority  can  be  maintained  on  all  the  questions 


438 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


which  will  be  under  discussion,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  new  govern- 
ment will  have  a  number  of  important  reforms  to  its  credit  when 
it  finishes  its  work. 

The  president  of  the  House  of  Lords,  the  lord  chancellor,  is  one  of  the 

most  popular  of  the  Liberal  leaders.   His  name  is  Robert  Reed  and  he 

is  also  a  Scotchman.    He  is  a  rare  combination  and  one  of  the  most 

lovable  of  men.   There  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  him  and  the 

Edinburgh  statue  of 

Walter  Scott  and  in 

his  heart  there  is  the 

democracy  of  Burns. 

With  high  ideals,  an 

eloquent  tongue  and 

a  disposition    which 

attracts  men  to  him, 

he  is  especially  fitted 

for  public  life,   and 

it  is  to  be  regretted 

that  upon  retirement 

from  his  present  po- 
sition he  becomes  a 

judge,  for  the  bench 

does    not    afford    an 

equal   opportunity 

with   the   forum   for 

the  molding  of  pub- 
lic opinion. 

The  foreign  secre- 
tary,    Sir     Edward 

Grey,  is  a  man  who 

would   attract   atten- 

t  i  o  n    anywhere   by 

the    strength    of    his 

face.     He    reminded 

me  of  the  late  Wil- 
liam Evarts,  of  New  York.  He  played  an  important  part  in  the 
campaign  which  led  up  to  the  Liberal  victory  and  his  selection  was  re- 
garded as  a  fitting  one.  His  position,  however,  is  not  so  difficult  to  fill, 
because  Great  Britain's  relations  with  the  other  powers  are  quite 
amicable. 

We  extended  our  stay  in  London  in  order  to  hear  the  minister  of 


SIR  HENRY  CAMPBELL-BANXERMAN. 


ENGLAND'S    NEW    LIBERAL    GOVERNMENT 


439 


war,  Mr.  Haldane,  make  his  argument  in  favor  of  a  reduction  in  the 
size  and  cost  of  the  army.  By  the  courtesy  of  our  ambassador,  Hon. 
Whitelaw  Reid,  I  had  an  excellent  seat  in  the  gallery  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  reader  may  be  interested  in  a  brief  sketch  of  this  most 
ancient  of  parliaments  and  most  powerful  of  all  the  factors  which  enter 
into  the  political  life  of  the  British  Isles.  The  hall  will  seat  sixty  per 
cent  of  the  members — an  astonishing  fact  to  an  American  who  is  ac- 
customed to  see  each  of  his  senators,  congressmen  and  state  Legislators 
occupying  the  seat  assigned  to  him  for  the  session.  The  members  who 
are  present  sit  on  cushioned  benches,  resembling  church  pews,  and 
these  benches  rise  one  above  another  on  each  side  of  the  hall.     The 


HOUSE  OF   PARLIAMENT LONDON. 

Liberals  sit  on  the  right  of  the  speaker  and  the  front  bench  is  re- 
served for  the  ministry.  The  Conservatives  occupy  the  benches  at 
the  speaker's  left,  the  front  bench  being  reserved  for  the  leaders  of 
the  opposition.  On  the  left,  but  farther  from  the  speaker,  are  the 
Irish  members  and  the  Labor  members.  There  is  a  narrow  gallery 
on  each  side,  which  is  occupied  by  members  when  there  is  a  large 
attendance,  and  there  is  a  small  gallery  in  the  rear  for  visitors.  The 
ladies'  gallery  is  just  over  the  speaker's  desk  and  is  so  carefully  screened 
that  the  occupants  of  the  gallery  can  not  be  recognized  from  the  floor. 
While  no  one,  least  of  all  the  ladies,  seems  to  defend  this  screen,  it 
still  remains.     Most  of  the  members  wear  their  hats  in  the  hall,  but 


440  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

as  they  have  no  desks  they  can  not  write  when  a  colleague  is  speaking, 
although  I  was  told  of  one  member  who  occasionally  occupied  his  time 
knitting. 

As  parliament  virtually  selects  the  ministers  and  as  these  ministers 
are  responsible  to  parliament  rather  than  to  the  king,  they  must  at- 
tend the  sessions  at  stated  times  and  answer  questions.  Any  mem- 
ber of  parliament  is  at  liberty  to  submit  a  question  in  writing  and 
the  minister  is  obliged  to  give  answer,  provided,  of  course,  the  answer 
would  not  make  an  improper  disclosure. 

The  leaders,  facing  each  other  from  the  opposing  benches,  pre- 
sent a  very  interesting  picture  and  after  listening  to  the  discussions 
back  and  forth,  one  can  understand  why  free  speech  has  had  so  large 
an  influence  in  the  development  of  the  political  institutions  of  Great 
Britain.  Here  everv  idea  is  threshed  out  and  every  measure  moulded 
into  permanent  form. 

But  to  return  to  the  minister  of  war.  Mr.  Haldane  might  be  taken 
for  Tom  L.  Johnson,  Cleveland's  redoubtable  mayor,  so  much  is  he 
like  him  in  face  and  figure.  He  is  plausible  in  speech  and  so  good 
natured  that  no  one  can  be  angry  with  him,  however  much  he  may 
dissent  from  his  conclusions.  For  two  hours  he  held  the  attention 
of  the  house  and  gallery — an  unusual  feat  in  London  where  the 
speeches  are  not  so  long  as  in  America.  He  was  frequently  encouraged 
by  cries  of  "Hear!  Hear!"  the  usual  applause  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. It  was  noticeable  that  the  heartiest  responses  were  drawn  forth 
by  his  expressions  in  favor  of  peace  and  arbitration.  The  reorganiza- 
tion scheme  which  he  presented  provides  for  a  reduction  of  several 
thousand  men  and  a  considerable  decrease  in  the  total  cost,  but  to  make 
the  scheme  more  'acceptable  the  remaining  regiments  are  so  disposed 
as  to  give  the  country  a  larger  fighting  force  than  it  now  has.  It  was 
interesting  to  watch  the  opposition  benches,  whose  able  leaders  vigor- 
ously attack  everything  that  the  new  government  proposes.  Ex-War 
Minister  Foster  followed  Mr.  Haldane  and  picked  flaws  in  his  plans, 
but  he  did  not  receive  the  attention  accorded  the  war  minister. 

The  army  question  is  arousing  considerable  interest,  and  the  gov- 
ernment bill  is  likely  to  have  more  opposition  in  the  House  of  Lords 
than  in  the  Commons.  In  fact,  Lord  Roberts  has  alreadv  attacked 
the  bill  in  advance,  in  a  speech  which  affords  conclusive  proof  of  the 
tendency  of  man  to  magnify  his  own  calling.  Nothing  better  illus- 
trates the  conservatism  of  the  House  of  Lords  than  the  fact  that  the 
Libera]  party  can  claim  but  one-tenth  of  the  membership  of  that 
body  while  it  has  two  hundred  majority  in  the  popular  branch  of 
parliament.     It   must    not   be   supposed,   however,   that   all   the   bills 


ENGLAND'S    NEW    LIBERAL    GOVERNMENT 


441 


passed  by  the  House  of  Commons  will  be  defeated  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  for  while  a  large  majority  of  that  house  may  really  oppose  a 
measure,  they  recognize  that  the  very  existence  of  t  heir  body  would 
be  jeopardized  if  it  opposed  the  people  on  any  important  question. 
Nominally  the  House  of  Lords  has  an  equal  voice  with  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  the  enactment  of  laws,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  does 
not  dare  to  exercise  the  power  which  it  has. 

The  navy  department  has  reduced  the  appropriation  for  large  ves- 
sels, and  it  is  certain  that  at  the  next  Hague  conference  Great  Britain 
will  be  found  supporting  a  proposition  for  the  limitation  of  arma- 
ments. Mr.  Edmund  Robertson,  the  financial  secretary  to  the  ad- 
miralty, presented  the  government's  scheme  for  reduction  and  made 
a  favorable  impression  upon  the  House  of  Common-. 

The  minister  of  education,  Mi-.  Birrell,  has  been  the  busiest  of  the 
ministers  so  far.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  educational  bill  which  has 
been  under  discussion  for  several  months  and  which,  after  being  per- 
fected in  the  committee 
of  the  whole,  has  been 
passed  to  a  third  reading 
by  a  majority  of  a  hun- 
dred and  ninety-two.  As 
,  the  bill  deals  with  re- 
ligion as  well  as  educa- 
tion and  concerns  the 
children  of  the  country, 
it  arouses  deep  interest. 
In  England  the  public 
school  system  has  grown 
up  as  an  addition  to  the 
church  schools,  or  rather 
the  public  schools  have 
supplemented  the  work 
formerly  done  by  the  pri- 
vate schools.  As  these 
schools  increased  in  num- 
bers and  importance  the 
church  schools  began  to 
ask  for  a  division  of  the 
johx  morley,  m.  r.  school  funds  and  this,  as 

it  usually  does,  brought 
into  politics  the  question  of  religious  instruction  in  the  schools.  As 
long  as  the  private  schools  were  supported  by  private  contribution 


442  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

or  endowment  their  religious  instruction  was  entirely  in  their  own 
hands,  but  when  these  schools  began  to  draw  their  support  from  the 
public  treasury  the  taxpayers  objected  to  paying  for  instruction  in  the 
creed  of  any  other  church  than  their  own.  Four  years  ago  the  Con- 
servatives enacted  a  law  which  gave  to  the  Established  Church  of  Eng- 
land considerable  advantage  over  the  nonconformist  churches  in  the 
management  of  the  public  schools,  and  this  led  to  a  campaign  against 
the  law  by  the  nonconformists.  Their  opposition  to  the  conservative 
government  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  Liberal  victory  and  the  bill 
now  under  consideration  in  parliament  puts  them  upon  an  equal 
footing  with  the  members  of  the  Established  Church  in  respect  to 
schools  and  removes  the  tests  which  formerly  operated  against  non- 
conformist teachers.* 

Mr.  John  Morley,  the  secretary  for  India,  is  too  well  known  in 
America  to  require  an  introduction.  He  stands  in  the  front  rank 
of  English  men  of  letters  and  his  appointment  has  given  new  hope  to 
the  people  of  India.  In  presenting  the  Indian  budget  a  few  days 
ago  he  promised  a  reduction  of  taxation — especially  the  detestable  salt 
tax,  and  said  that  a  commission  was  inquiring  how  far  the  doctrine 
of  self  government  could  be  applied  to  the  people  of  India.  The  fact, 
however,  that  but  a.  few  hours  were  devoted  to  Indian  affairs,  while  days 
and  weeks  are  given  to  home  problems,  shows  how  far  the  interests 
of  citizens  are  placed  above  the  rights  of  remote  subjects. 

Mr.  James  Bryce,  the  secretary  for  Ireland,  is  also  well  known  in 
the  United  States,  his  American  Commonwealth  being  a  standard 
work  among  us.  He  brings  to  his  duties  wide  experience  and  a  splen- 
did mind  and,  what  is  more  important,  an  excellent  heart.  His  sym- 
pathies are  broad  and  he  has  enough  Irish  blood  in  his  veins  to 
insure  an  equitable  view  of  Irish  problems. 

The  prime  minister  made  an  excellent  selection  when  he  named 
Mr.  John  Burns  as  president  of  the  local" government  board.  In  this 
position  Mr.  Burns  has  to  deal  with  the  subjects  to  the  study  of  which 
he  has  devoted  his  life,  namely,  labor  and  municipal  affairs.  Having 
worked  his  way  up  from  the  ranks  he  is  able  to  give  invaluable 
assistance  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  wage-earners,  factory  inspection 
and  municipalization.  He  is  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  Liberal  min- 
istry. 

Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  son  of  the  late  Lord  Randolph  Churchill, 
as  the  representative  of  the  colonial  department  in  the  House  of  Com- 

*  The  House  of  Lords  has,  since  the  writing  of  the  above,  so  amended  the  edu- 
cational bill  that  the  prime  minister  has  withdrawn  the  bill  as  a  protest  against 
the  House  of  Lords.  It  raises  an  issue  as  to  the  co-ordinate  power  of  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  may  result  in  curtailing  the  power  of  that  body. 


ENGLAND'S    NEW    LIBERAL    GOVERNMENT 


448 


mons,  has  to  deal  with  the  Chinese  question  in  South  Africa,  one  of 
the  leading  questions  of  the  recent  campaign.  The  new  government 
has  undertaken  to  abolish  a  system  of  contract  labor  which  has  been 
described  as  little  short  of  slavery.  The  mine  owners  insist  that 
Chinese  labor  is  necessary  for  the  successful  working  of  the  mines  and 
that  the  conditions  imposed  upon  the  Chinese  are  not  severe,  but  the 


JOHN   BURNS. 


laboring  men  of  Great  Britain  are  quite  unanimous  in  their  condem- 
nation of  the  system  and  the  Liberal  government  is  supporting  their 
views.  Mr.  Churchill  is  a  brilliant  young  man  and  has,  as  his  friends 
believe,  a  bright  future.  The  fact  that  his  mother  is  of  American 
birth  gives  him  a  more  than  usual  interest  in  our  country  and  makes 
us  watch  his  career  with  a  friendly  eye.     His  connection  with  the 


444  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

important  work  of  framing  a  constitution  for  the  Transvaal  is  likely 
to  largely  increase  his  political  prominence. 

I  have  left  for  the  last  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  although  in 
order  of  importance  his  office  stands  near  the  head  of  the  mini -try. 
Mr.  Henry  Asquith,  the  present  occupant  of  this  position,  is  one  of 
the  strongest  members  of  the  Liberal  party  and  probably  its  foremost 
debater.  He  was  put  forward  to  reply  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  the 
tariff  controversy  and  acquitted  himself  well.  He  is  opposed  to  the 
protective  tariff,  whether  levied  for  the  aid  of  particular  industries 
or  as  a  part  of  the  scheme  of  retaliation  and  his  ideas  are,  for  the  present 
at  least,  in  the  ascendancy.  If  the  Right  Honorable  Joseph  Chamber- 
lain, with  the  prestige  given  him  by  the  Boer  war  and  with  his  extraor- 
dinary ability  as  a  public  speaker,  can  not  overthrow  England's  free 
trade  policy  there  is  little  chance  that  any  other  English  .statesman  will 
be  able  to  attack  it  successfully  in  the  near  future. 

Mr.  Asquith's  department  has*  the  administration  of  the  income 
tax  and  inheritance  tax.  The  latter  has  yielded  more  within  the 
last  year  than  ever  before,  three  large  estates  having  turned  into  the 
trea.-ury  (or  will  do  so)  some  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  The  income 
tax  is  not  only  a  permanent  part  of  the  fiscal  system,  but  a  commission 
is  considering  whether  a  graded  income  tax  should  not  be  substituted 
for  the  present  uniform  one.  The  tax  i.-  now  uniform,  except  that 
small  incomes  are  exempt. 

Besides  the  measures  above  referred  to,  the  new  government  is  pre- 
paring a  home  rule  measure  for  Ireland  and  proposes  to  so  change  the 
election  laws  as  to  reduce  the  land  holders  to  one  vote  each — at  pres- 
ent each  land  holder  can  vote  in  every  district  in  which  he  has  land. 
The  government  is  also  supporting  a  measure  which  protects  the  Eng- 
lish tenant  farmers  in  their  improvements  and  in  their  right  to  vote 
according  to  their  own  views,  irrespective  of  the  wishes  of  the  landlord. 
Tin-  Liberal  victory  was  a  victory  for  progressive,  democratic  ideas  and 
the  new  government  is  earnestly  at  work  putting  these  ideas  into  the 
form  of  law. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

HOMES  AND  SHRINES  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

ITe  who  sees  only  the  cities  and  villages  of  <  rreal  Britain  misses  one  of 
the  most  interesting  features  of  English  life.    Land  tenure  is  so  different 

here  from  tenure  in  the  United  States  that  the  reader  will  pardon  a 
sketch  of  the  old-fashioned  manor.  In  England,  the  right  of  primo- 
geniture still  remains  and  the  family  home  descends  to  the  oldest  son. 
It  not  only  descends  to  him,  but  it  continues  its  descent  through  him 
to  his  son  and  his  son's  son,  and  is  not  subject  to  alienation.  It  was  our 
good  fortune  to  be  invited  to  several  of  these  homes,  some  of  them  rich 
in  family  heirlooms  and  of  historic  interest. 

Our  ambassador,  Mr.  Reid,  is  occupying  one  of  the  most  famous 
estates  in  England ;  it  is  known  as  Wrest  Park  and  is  about  forty  miles 
from  London.  During  the  London  season,  many  spend  the  "week's 
end"  at  their  country  home,  and  after  a  fortnight's  experience  in 
London  we  could  appreciate  the  necessity  for  it,  for  the  dinner  hour 
is  eight  or  eight  fifteen,  while  receptions  and  balls  begin  at  any  hour 
from  ten  to  twelve.  The  House  of  Commons  does  not  convene  until 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  generally  sits  until  midnight.  Lit- 
tle wonder  that  there  is  an  exodus  on  Saturday  morning. 

"We  spent  our  first  week's  end  at  AVrest  Park  and  were  shown 
through  its  spacious  grounds.  The  house  itself  is  only  about  seventy 
years  old,  but  the  land  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  family  for  several 
centuries.  The  estate  consists  of  about  seven  thousand  acres,  most  of 
it  in  cultivation,  but  enough  is  left  adjoining  the  house  for  woods, 
parks,  lawns  and  gardens,  and  these  have  been  laid  out  and  orna- 
mented by  landscape  gardeners.  There  are  walks  lined  with  statuary, 
green  stretches  of  velvet  turf,  miles  of  well  kept  hedges  of  holly  and 
box  and  cedar,  stately  oaks,  summer  houses,  tea  houses,  green  houses 
and  everything  in  the  way  of  ornament  that  taste  could  dictate  and 
money  supply.  The  gardens  are  especially  attractive.  They  were  shut 
in  by  high  walls,  and  against  these  walls  fruit  trees,  vines  and  flowers 
are  trained  with  artistic  effect.     In  the  hot  houses  peaches  are  ripen- 

445 


446 


THE    OLD    "WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


ing  before  their  season,  and  huge  bunches  of  grapes  are  growing  pur- 
ple. Cucumbers,  tomatoes  and  many  other  vegetables,  as  well  as  fruits 
which  we  grow  out  of  doors,  are  in  England  raised  and  ripened  under 
glass.  The  strawberries  are  of  enormous  size,  and  the  gooseberries  are 
as  large  as  pigeon  eggs. 

"Within  the  house  are  spacious  rooms  hung  with  pictures  of  the 
nobility  that  have  occupied  the  estate,  and  of  members  of  the  royal 
family  who  have  visited  there.  The  library  contains  several  thousand 
books  accumulated  through  many  generations. 

Not  far  from  the  house  stands  the  manor  church  supported  by 
tithes,  the  owner  of  the  estate  usually  selecting  the  minister.  In  many 
places  the  "living,"  as  it  is  called,  has  ceased  to  be  of  great  value. 


MELROSE  ABBEY. 

The  inheritance  tax  is  quite  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  owners  of 
these  estates,  and  many  of  the  landholders  are  so  impoverished  that 
they  are  obliged  to  rent  their  estates  in  order  to  raise  the  money  to 
meet  the  tax. 

Mr.  Moreton  Frewen,  who  contributed  many  articles  to  the  silver 
literature  in  1896,  and  whose  wife  is  of  American  birth,  took  us  down 
to  his  place,  Brede,  which  is  within  sight  of  the  battlefield  of  Hastings. 
It  is  a  fine  old  house  with  a  splendid  viewr,  and  the  oak  doors  and 
woodwork,  although  five  or  six  hundred  years  old,  are  as  good  as  new. 
On  the  way  to  Brede  we  stopped  for  luncheon  at  Knole,  another 
famous  country  place  owned  by  the  West  family.     The  present  occu- 


HOMES  AND   SHRINKS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN         447 

pant,  Lord  Sackville  West,  was  once  Ambassador  to  America.  It  is  a 
historic  place,  and  has  seven  courts,  fifty-two  stairways  and  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  windows.  The  earliest  record  shows  that  the  Earl 
of  Albemarle  gave  the  estate  to  his  daughter  when  she  was  married 
to  the  Earl  of  Pembroke.  Afterward,  it  came  into  the  possession  of 
Lord  Save  and  Sele,  and  he  conveyed  it  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, who  at  his  death  bequeathed  it  to  the  See  of  Canterbury.  Cram- 
ner  occupied  the  place  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  conveyed  it  to 
Henry  the  Eighth.  (Cramner  will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  three 
bishops  who  were  burned  at  the  stake.)  It  was  once  in  the  possession 
of  Queen  Mary  and  afterward  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  conveyed  it 
to  Dudley,  her  favorite  Earl.  The  house  is  a  veritable  museum  and 
art  gallery,  and  contains  hundred  of  pictures,  many  of  them  of  kings 
and  others  prominent  in  English  history.  One  of  the  rooms  was  fitted 
up  by  James  First  for  himself  when  he  paid  a  visit  to  Knole,  and  the 
room  is  kept  as  it  was.  The  bed  is  said  to  have  cost  forty  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  curtains  and  bed  cover  are  embroidered  with  gold  and 
silver.  The  mattresses  are  of  white  satin,  and  the  walls  are  hung  with 
Flemish  tapestry  representing  scenes  from  the  history  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. 

The  great  hall  used  as  a  dining  room  is  seventy-five  feet  long  and 
half  as  wide.  At  one  end  is  a  raised  floor  where  the  table  of  the  Lord 
of  the  Manor  stood;  below7  him  sat  the  retainers  and  lower  members 
of  the  household.  A  list  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  names  is  pre- 
served, that  being  the  number  of  those  who  regularly  took  their  meals 
in  the  hall  in  1624.  In  this  hall  there  is  a  large  collection  of  silver 
and  pewter  vessels  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
grounds  and  gardens,  I  need  hardly  add,  are  in  keeping  with  the  inte- 
rior of  the  Ctistle.  "We  saw  here  one  of  the  prettiest  specimens  of  the 
skill  of  the  horticulturist's  art  that  has  come  under  our  observation. 
Grape  vines  are  grown  in  large  pots  and  trained  upon  a  hoop-like 
trellis.  When  we  were  there  the  clusters  of  ripened  grapes  added  to 
the  beauty  of  the  vines. 

We  spent  one  night  at  Broughton  Castle  as  the  guests  of  Lord  and 
Lady  Lennox.  The  host  and  hostess  have  often  visited  the  United 
States,  and  are  quite  liberal  in  their  political  view's.  They  are  also 
identified  with  the  community,  encouraging  artistic  industry  such  as 
wood  carving  and  the  like,  by  which  the  young  people  may  add  to 
their  income  as  well  as  develop  their  taste.  In  this  connection  it 
should  be  explained  that  the  owner  of  an  estate  occupies  a  responsible 
position.     While  he  draws  rent  from  his  tenants,  he  is  expected  to  be 


448  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

their  patron  and  protector,  as  well  as  their  general  advisor.  He  pro- 
vides the  Christmas  festivities,  gives  presents  to  the  children  and  looks 
after  the  sick. 

The  moral  standards  which  he  sets  up  have  a  large  influence  upon 
the  religious  and  social  life  of  the  community,  and  the  conscientious 
land  owner  is  able  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good. 

Broughton  Castle  is  near  Banbury — the  Banbury  Cross,  immortal- 
ized in  child  rhymes  by  the  woman  "who  rode  a  white  horse" — and 
was  frequented  by  Cromwell  and  his  chiefs.  In  fact,  in  one  of  the 
rooms,  as  tradition  goes,  the  death  warrant  of  Charles  the  First  was 
signed.  The  house  is  of  stone  and  the  roof  is  covered  with  stone  tiles 
— and  a  good  roof  it  still  is,  though  six  hundred  years  old.  In  some  of 
the  rooms  fine  oak  paneling  had  been  painted  over,  and  in  other 
rooms  handsome  stone  walls  had  been  disfigured  with  plaster,  but  the 
present  occupant  is  restoring  these.  As  in  many  of  the  larger  and 
older  country  places,  Broughton  has  a  little  chapel  of  its  own  where 
the  family  assembled  for  divine  service.  The  castle  is  surrounded 
by  a  shaded  lawn,  ornamented  by  hedge,  evergreens,  flower  beds  and 
rose-covered  arbors,  and  around  all  these  runs  the  moat,  fed  from 
neighboring  streams.  The  memory  of  feudal  times  is  preserved  by 
the  towers,  drawbridge  and  massive  gates.  English  history  is  illumi- 
nated by  these  ancient  country  seats,  and  much  in  English  home  life 
is  explained  that  would  otherwise  be  difficult  to  understand. 

Warwick  Castle  is  near  Lemington  and  but  a  few  miles  from 
Broughton.  It  is  probably  the  most  visited  of  all  the  castles  of  Eng- 
land and  is  still  in  the  family  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  king  maker. 
It  is  built  upon  the  banks  of  the  Avon  and  has  a  deep,  dark  dungeon 
and  lofty  towers  and  all  the  accessories  of  an  ancient  fortress.  The 
great  hall  is  filled  with  armor  and  heirlooms.  The  house  contains  a 
valuable  collection  of  paintings  by  old  masters  and  the  furniture  of 
the  sleeping  rooms  is  as  remarkable  for  its  design  as  for  its  antiquity. 
A  few  weeks  ago  a  pageant,  illustrating  the  history  of  the  castle,  was 
given  on  the  banks  of  the  stream  and  attended  by  some  twenty  thou- 
sand visitors. 

So  much  for  the  great  estates  of  England.  They  are  still  main- 
tained and  the  system  is  still  de'fended  by  manly  English  statesmen 
as  the  one  best  calculated  to  preserve  the  family  and  the  present  social 
structure.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  as  much  opposition  here  as 
an  American  would  suppose  to  this  system,  under  which  priority  of 
birth  carries  with  it  so  great  an  advantage  over  those  born  afterward. 
The  younger  children,  reared  to  expect  little  except  in  case  of  the  death 


HOMES  AND  SHRINES  OF  GREAT  BRTTA1X 


449 


of  those  older,  seem  to  accept  the  situation  as  a  matter  of  course,  and 
tenants,  descended  from  generations  of  tenants,  seem  to  acquiesce  with- 
out protest  in  a  tenure  which  deprives  them  of  the  prospect  of  owner- 
ship. While  one  can  appreciate  the  beauty  of  the  manors  and  admit 
that  they  could  not  be  maintained  under  any  other  system  than  that 
which  gives  them  entire  to  one  member  of  the  family  and  prevents 
alienation,  still  an  American  finds  his  admiration  for  American  insti- 
tutions increasing  while  he  travels,  for  to  him  the  advantages  that 
flow  from  individual  ownership,  and  the  division  of  estates  at  death, 
seem  infinitely  greater  than  any  that  are  to  be  derived  from  the  Eng- 
lish system.     A  hundred  farmers,  stimulated  by  hope  and  secure  in 


BIRTHPLACE  OF  ROBERT  BURNS. 


their   holdings,    contribute    more   than   one    country   gentleman    and 
ninety-nine  tenants  possibly  can  to  the  strength  and  vigor  of  a  state. 

After  all,  the  large  estates  are  insignificant  in  number  when  com- 
pared with  the  homes  of  the  middle  classes  in  the  various  cities  and 
villages,  but  these  are  so  much  like  the  homes  in  America,  both  in 
appearance  and  in  management,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon 
them.  The  owners  of  these  homes  are  potent  in  parliamentary  elec- 
tions, as  are  also  the  laboring  men.  The  House  of  Lords  represent- 
the  landed  proprietors,  more  than  one-third  of  all  the  farm  Ian  da 
in  England  being  owned  by  members  of  that  body. 


450 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


We  took  occasion  to  visit  some  of  the  shrines  of  Great  Britain.  Of 
course,  no  one  place  is  so  rich  in  historic  memories  as  Westminster 
Abbey,  it  being  the  burial  place  of  most  of  the  illustrious  of  England. 
One  of  the  most  frequented  places  outside  of  London  is  Stratford-on- 
Avon,  the  birthplace  and  burial  place  of  Shakespeare.  The  house  in 
which  he  was  born  is  still  standing  and  is  well  preserved,  considering 
the  years  that  have  passed  over  it.     From  its  size  and  arrangement  it 


SHAKESPEAHK  S    BIRTH-HOUSE   RESTORATION. 


is  evident  that  Shakespeare's  father  was  a  man  of  some  means.  The 
house  is  now  public  property  and  serves  as  a  museum  where  numerous 
Shakespearian  relics  arc  exhibited.  One  oil  painting  of  him,  mad-3 
when  he  was  -till  a  young  man,  would  indicate  that  even  then  he  en- 
joyed some  distinction  among  his  fellows,  although  succeeding  gen- 
erations have  appreciated  him  vastly  more  than  his  own. 


HOMES  AND  SHRINES  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN         451 

The  grammar  school  which  Shakespeare  attended  is  still  to  be  seen, 
and  at  the  church  they  have  the  baptismal  font  used  at  his  christening 
and  the  parish  register  in  which  his  baptism  and  burial  are  entered. 
His  grave  is  in  the  floor  of  the  church  and  there  is  nothing  to  mark 
the  stone  slab  that  covers  it  but  the  familiar  lines : 

"Good  friend,  for  Jesus'  sake  forbeare, 
To  digg  the  dust  enclosed  heare. 
Bleste  be  ye  man  yt  spares  thes  stones, 
And  curst  be  he  yt  moves  my  bones. ' ' 

At  Edinburgh  we  saw  the  home  of  John  Knox  and  were  impressed 
anew  with  the  tremendous  influence  which  he  exerted  upon  the  re- 
ligious life  of  Scotland.  Seldom  has  it  fallen  to  the  lot  of  one  man  to 
so  stamp  his  thought  upon  so  many  people.  In  Edinburgh  also  stands 
the  little  chapel,  less  known  to  tourists,  in  which  the  Covenanters  met 
and  in  which  the  struggle  began  between  them  and  the  Church  of 
England.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  so  short  a  time  ago  there  was  a 
bloody  war  between  two  branches  of  the  Protestant  Church,  in  which 
thousands  suffered  martyrdom  for  their  religious  convictions. 

"We  visited  Loch  Katrine  and  Loch  Lomond,  to  which  Scot  has 
given  a  permanent  place  in  literature,  and  after  seeing  them  will  not 
enter  into  a  dispute  with  any  Highlander,  however  extravagant  his 
praise  of  these  beautiful  lakes.  And  if  I  may  digress  for  a  moment,  we  al- 
so visited  the  lakes  of  Killarney  of  which  Moore  sang.  They  also  are 
beautiful  enough  to  move  a  poet's  heart  and  inspire  a  poet's  pen,  al- 
though to  be  truthful  I  must  assert  that  Lake  Tahoe,  which  shines  like 
a  jewel  in  the  crown  of  the  Sierras,  on  the  boundary  line  between  Cali- 
fornia and  Nevada,  need  not  fear  comparison  with  any  of  the  lakes  of 
Scotland  or  Ireland.  In  one  thing,  however,  we  cannot  compare  with 
England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  namely,  the  ivy-mantled  ruin.  It  is 
picturesque  and  pleasing  to  the  eye  and  yet  who  would  exchange  a  plain 
cottage,  occupied  by  a  happy  family,  for  the  crumbling  vine-clad  walls 
of  a  tenantless  castle  ? 

From  Glasgow  we  went  by  automobile  to  Ayr,  the  birthplace  of 
Burns.  Thirty-three  miles  out  and  thirty-three  miles  back,  and  it 
rained  nearly  the  entire  way!  AVe  were  sustained  amid  the  discom- 
forts of  the  trip  by  our  interest  in  Scotland's  rustic  bard,  whose  simple 
lays  have  endeared  him  to  the  universal  heart,  but  our  sympathies 
went  out  to  two  kind  friends,  Mr.  McKillup,  a  member  of  parlia- 
ment, and  Mr.  Henry  Wright,  a  Glasgow  barrister,  who  accompanied 
us.    It  was  an  humble  cottage  in  which  Burns  first  saw  the  light  and 


452  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

in  which  he  lived  when  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  those  rollicking 
companions,  Tarn  O'Shanter  and  Souter  Johnny.  Near  by  is  In- 
famous bridge  over  the  "Bonny  Doon"  of  whose  "banks  and  bn 
he  sang,  and  not  far  away  are  the  old  bridge  and  the  new  one  which 
his  fancy  clothed  with  life  and  brought  together  in  animated  dialogue. 
After  visiting  the  places  and  looking  upon  the  scenes  enshrined  in 
literature  by  his  verse  one  reads  with  even  greater  zest  the  homespun 
ballads  of  this  impulsive  apostle  of  democracy.  I  was  glad  to  learn 
that  increasing  thousands  wend  their  way  to  his  birthplace  each  year 
and  that  among  the  visitors  Americans  are  very  numerous. 

We  reserved  for  the  conclusion  of  our  tour  of  the  British  Isles  Ha- 
warden  Castle,  the  home  of  Gladstone.  With  our  usual  luck  we  reached 
Hawarden  just  as  Mr.  Henry  Gladstone  arrived  from  his  home,  eight 
miles  away,  and  were  taken  through  the  house  and  grounds  by  him. 
The  estate  of  several  thousand  acres,  which  came  into  the  family  from 
Mrs.  Gladstone's  ancestors,  has  just  passed,  according  to  the  law  of 
primogeniture,  into  the  hands  of  a  grandson  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  The 
new  owner  is  a  sober,  studious  young  man  who  has  already  achieved 
distinction  in  college  debates  and  who  is  preparing  himself  for  a 
public  career.  While  we  enjoyed  a  drive  through  the  woods  and 
through  the  park,  where  the  elder  Gladstone  was  wont  to  cut  down 
trees  for  exercise,  our  interest  naturally  centered  in  the  big,  roomy 
house,  castle-like  in  its  structure,  and  in  the  commodious  library  where 
England's  Christian  statesman  labored  for  more  than  threescore  years, 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  his  public  life  extended  over  two  gen- 
erations. The  walls  are  concealed  by  books,  and  shelves  jut  out  into 
the  room  at  right  angles.  Gladstone  was  a  prodigious  worker  and, 
amidst  the  cares  of  official  life,  found  time  to  devote  to  the  classics, 
to  the  sciences  and  to  religious  discussion.  Among  the  busts  in  the 
room  is  one  of  Disraeli,  his  most  conspicuous  political  antagonist.  The 
prominence  thus  given  to  his  distinguished  opponent  may  possibly  be 
explained,  as  Hercules  explained  the  courtesy  shown  by  him  to  the 
goddess  whose  enmity  compelled  him  to  perform  the  labors  which 
made  him  immortal. 

Opening  off  from  the  library  is  a  fireproof  vault  in  which  Mr. 
Gladstone  kept  his  papers  and  valuable  documents,  and  he  was  so 
methodical  that  Mr.  John  Morley,  his  biographer,  found  the  materials 
for  his  work  in  excellent  order.  Not  far  from  the  house  is  a  large 
building,  erected  as  a  memorial  to  Gladstone,  which  contains  his  re- 
ligions library  of  several  thousand  volumes.  The  family  has  built 
a  dormitory  adjoining  the  library  to  accommodate  the  students  who 
come  from  all  countries  to  study  theological  questions. 


454 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


We  also  visited  the  chapel  near  by  where  the  statesman  attended 
church  and  often  read  the  service.  His  son-in-law,  the  present  rector, 
showed  us  the  memorial,  since  unveiled,  which  will  draw  multitudes 
to  this  historic  edifice.     It  is  a  marble  group  by  the  sculptor  Rich- 


1 

\ 

...  *^Pfc^" 

\ 

a 

1 

W.   E.   GLADSTONE. 


mond  and  represents  the  great  Commoner  and  his  wife  sleeping  side 
by  side,  an  angel  guarding  them  with  outstretched  wings.  It  is  fitting 
that  they  should  thus  rest  at  the  end  of  life,  for  they  had  together  borne 
life's  burdens  and  together  shared  the  many  triumphs  that  crowned 


HOMES   AND   SHRINKS  OF  (JREAT    liK'ITAIN 


I.V, 


their  efforts.  While  he  was  master  of  the  ship  of  state,  she  was  mis- 
tress of  an  ideal  home;  while  he  was  seeking  to  ameliorate  the  condi- 
tion of  the  whole  people,  she  was  conducting  a  private  orphanage  with- 
in a  stone's  throw  of  the  castle,  an  institution  still  maintained  in  her 
memory.  So  happy  was  the  long  married  life  of  this  well-mated  pail 
that  at  the  approach  of  death  he  requested  the  family  not  to  permit 
his  interment  in  Westminster  Abbey,  except  on  condition  thai  his  wife 
be  given  a  place  beside  him,  and  this  unusual  honor  was  paid  them. 

Although  nations  boast  of  material  wealth  and  manufacturing 
plants,  their  most  valuable  assets  are  their  men  and  women  of  merit, 
and  their  greatest  factories  are  their  institutions  of  learning,  which 
convert  priceless  raw  material  into  a,  finished  product  of  inestimable 
worth.  Gladstone,  vigorous  in  body,  strong  in  mind  and  elevated  in 
moral  purpose,  was  an  ornament  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived  and  will 
be  an  inspiration  to  succeeding  generations. 


WINI>S<  >K    CASTLE 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

GLIMPSES  OF  SPAIN. 

The  peninsula  which  Spain  and  Portugal  divide  between  them  is 
the  part  of  western  Europe  least  visited  by  Americans,  although  it 
stretches  out  like  a  friendly  hand  toward  the  western  hemisphere  and 
has  furnished  not  only  the  discoverer  of  North  America,  but  the 
colonizers  of  Central  and  South  America.  When,  early  last  June,  we 
attempted  to  secure  homeward  passage,  we  found  the  ships  sailing 
from  Hamburg,  Bremen  and  Antwerp  already  filled  and  had  to  look 
to  a  Mediterranean  boat  for  accommodation.  I  mention  this  experi- 
ence in  the  hope  that  it  may  help  some  other  traveler  who  finds  him- 
self in  the  same  dilemma,  for  we  not  only  secured  satisfactory  accom- 
modations on  one  of  the  North  German  Lloyd  steamers,  the  Princess 
Irene,  but  had  in  addition  an  opportunity  to  see  the  most  backward 
country  in  western  Europe,  the  stronghold  of  the  Moors  during  the 
middle  ages  and  one  of  the  great  fortresses  of  the  globe. 

A  fast  train  makes  the  distance  from  Paris  to  Madrid  in  a  little 
over  a  day,  the  only  drawback  being  that  it  passes  through  the 
Pyrenees  in  the  night.  As  we  had  remained  in  Paris  longer  than  we 
expected,  we  were  deprived  of  a  view  of  the  mountain  scenery  and  of 
the  summer  resorts  of  northern  Spain.  Morning  found  us  in  the 
very  heart  of  Castile  and  the  landscape  resembles  some  parts  of  Mex- 
ico. The  country  is  in  the  midst  of  the  dry  season  and,  the  grain 
having  been  gathered,  the  fields  look  quite  barren  save  for  the  vine- 
yards. These  are  numerous  all  over  Spain  and  recall  the  fact  that 
Spain,  like  other  colonizers,  tried  to  make  her  colonies  supplement 
her  own  products  rather  than  compete  with  them.  She  forbade  grape 
growing  in  Cuba,  and  in  Mexico  not  only  prohibited  the  culture  of 
the  vine,  but  the  production  of  silk  also.  Speaking  of  grapes,  it  is 
only  fair  to  say  that,  in  this  fruit,  Spain  cannot  be  surpassed.  No- 
where have  we  found  grapes  so  abundant,  so  cheap  or  so  delicious. 
At  a  Vienna  hotel  last  June  they  were  asking  three  dollars  for  a 
cluster — probably  raised  in  a  hot  house — that  in  August  could  be 
bought  in  Spain  for  ten  or  fifteen  cents.  The  large  white  grapes 
exported  to  the  United  States  and  sold  as  a  luxury  during  the  winter 
months  are  here  within  Ihe  reach  of  all. 

456 


GLIMPSES    OF    SPAIN  457 

All  along  the  railroad  one  sees  primitive  agricultural  methods. 
The  old-fashioned  threshing  floor  is  in  common  use,  but  instead  of 
the  flail  they  employ  a  machine  resembling  a  light  disc  harrow,  which 
is  hitched  to  a  pair  of  mules  and  drawn  rapidly  round  and  round. 
When  the  wheat  is  separated  from  the  straw,  men  go  over  the  thresh- 
ing floor  and  winnow  out  the  wheat,  the  wind  blowing  away  the 
chaff.  We  were  informed  that  they  had  had  a  prosperous  year  in 
the  grain  districts,  but  the  stubble  did  not  indicate  as  heavy  a  crop 
as  we  raise  in  the  United  States. 

Madrid  surprised  us.  It  contains  more  than  half  a  million  of 
inhabitants,  is  about  two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  and  is  really  a 
very  attractive  city.  It  is  not  an  ancient  city,  being  less  than  a  thou- 
sand years  old,  but  it  has  substantial  blocks,  a  beautiful  boulevard 
and  a  picture  gallery  one  and  a  half  centuries  old.  In  the  different 
galleries  at  Madrid  are  some  of  the  best  canvases  of  Velasquez  and 
Murillo. 

As  in  all  other  Spanish  countries  one  finds  here  reminders  of  the 
national  sport,  the  bull  fight.  Each  city  has  its  amphitheater  or  cir- 
cular bull  pit,  and  it  is  often  the  most  conspicuous  building  in  the 
place;  the  fans — and  in  Spain  the  fan  is  omnipresent  and  often  of 
great  value — are  ornamented  with  scenes  from  the  bull  fight  and  the 
bill  boards  blaze  with  announcements  of  the  next  Sunday's  combat. 
The  bull  fight  is  probably  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  gladiatorial  con- 
tests of  Rome,  a  surviving  relic  of  brutality,  which  must  disappear 
when  Spain  follows  her  northern  neighbors  in  the  adoption  of  uni- 
versal education.  At  present  her  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  disgrace- 
fully large. 

While  Spain  has  a  constitutional  government  and  goes  through 
the  form  of  electing  a  legislative  body,  her  elections  do  not  seem  to  be 
characterized  by  the  freedom  and  fairness  that  attend  elections  in 
northern  Europe.  There  is,  however,  in  this  country,  as  in  others,  a 
growing  spirit  of  reform  which  is  already  demanding  more  schools 
and  less  religious  interference  in  the  government.  Much  is  expected 
of  the  present  king,  both  because  of  the  independence  which  he  has 
manifested  and  because  the  new  queen  comes  from  England,  where 
parliamentary  government  has  for  centuries  been  an  established  fact. 

Before  leaving  Madrid  a  word  should  be  said  in  regard  to  the 
Toledo  ware — iron  and  steel  inlaid  with  gold.  It  resembles  some- 
what the  Damascene  work  of  Japan  and  the  old  inlaid  work  of 
Damascus  and  Constantinople.  The  far  famed  Toledo  blade  was  not 
less  dangerous  in  war  because  it  was  ornamented  with  delicate  tracery 
of  gold. 


458 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


A  night's  ride  brought  us  to  Cordova,  once  the  Moorish  capital  of 
Spain.  It  had  been  a  city  of  some  note  under  the  Romans  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  the  Moors  undertook  to  make  it  a  western  Mecca 
for  the  Mohammedans.  There  are  still  to  be  seen  two  gates  and  a  wall, 
which  were  built  by  the  Romans,  and  a  bridge  which  rests  upon  the 
foundations  laid  by  the  great  builders.  The  bridge  with  its  massive 
arches  and  ponderous  piers  is  interesting  for  other  than  historic 
reasons,  as  it  gives  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  Moors  were  quick  to 
appreciate  and  to  follow  the  example  of  their  predecessors.  In  the 
stream  near  the  bridge  are  three  grist  mills  dating  from  the  middle 
ages,  one  of  which  still  supplies  flour  to  the  neighborhood. 

The  old  mosque,  however,  is  the  overshadowing  object  of  interest 


■^*rk 


THE    OLD    BRIDGE    AT    CORDOVA. 


in  Cordova,  and  in  itself  well  repays  a  visit  to  this  city  of  narrow, 
winding  streets  and  oriental  appearance.  The  ground  plan  of  the 
mosque  covers  about  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  square  feet — 
nearly  as  much  as  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  but  one-third  of  the  space 
is  occupied  by  a  court  where  the  worshipers  assemble  and  purify 
themselves  before  entering  upon  their  devotions.  The  mosque  was 
some  four  centuries  in  building,  one  ruler  after  another  extending 
its  limits  in  order  to  accommodate  the  increasing  number  of  converts. 
In  appearance  the  structure  is  low  and  flat  and  gives  little  idea  of  its 
immensity.    It  is  surrounded  bv  a  strong  wall  heavilv  buttressed  and  is 

.  t  CD  *j 

entered  by  huge  gates.     One  of  these  gates  bears  striking  testimony 


GLIMPSES    OF    SPAIN  459 

to  a  remarkable  agreement  entered  into  by  the  Christians  and  Moham- 
medans whereby  the  two  antagonistic  religions  divided  the  church 
between  them.  These  gates  are  covered  with  plates  of  bronze  on  which 
Catholic  and  Arabic  symbols  alternate.  The  joint  occupation  did  not 
last  very  long,  but  Abderrahman,  when  he  desired  to  secure  more 
room  for  the  followers  of  the  Prophet,  was  considerate  enough  to  pur- 
chase the  other  half  from  the  Christians. 

The  interior  of  the  mosque  is  a  succassion  of  arches  supported  by 
nearly  a  thousand  pillars  and  these  pillars,  the  traveler  is  told,  were 
brought  from  Cartin.  France  and  Italy.  Workmen  were  secured 
in  Constantinople  by  >ne  of  the  caliphs  and  it  is  possible  to  find 
almost  every  variety  architecture  in  the  columns  themselves  or  in 
their  capitals  and  bast.. 

When  Cordova  was  recaptured  by  the  Christians  in  the  thirteenth 
century  a  part  of  this  building  was  converted  into  a  cathedral  and 
to-day  it  presents  a  curious  combination  of  chapel,  altar,  shrine  and 
mosque.  The  most  attractive  decorations  in  the  mosque  are  the 
mosaics,  and  the  superb  wood  carving  in  the  principal  choir  are  of 
rare  merit.  One  series  of  these  pictures  in  wood  illustrates  Old  Testa- 
ment history,  while  another  portrays  the  principal  events  in  the  life 
of  Christ. 

The  road  from  Cordova — Cordova,  once  the  center  of  art,  Arabic 
learning  and  religion,  but  now  a  prosaic  town  of  less  than  sixty 
thousand — to  Granada,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Moors  north  of  the 
Mediterranean,  leads  through  a  succession  of  olive  groves.  Nowhere, 
not  even  in  Palestine  or  about  the  mount  that  bears  the  olive's  name, 
have  we  seen  such  an  abundance  of  these  trees.  From  the  importance 
of  this  industry  one  would  suppose  that  southern  Europe  could  supply 
olive  oil  enough  without  importing  cotton  seed  from  the  United 
States,  and  yet  we  have  been  assured  by  shippers  that  a  great  deal  of 
the  olive  oil  which  we  buy  from  Europe  is  really  cotton  seed  oil,  which 
has  twice  crossed  the  Atlantic. 

The  city  of  Granada  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
upon  whose  summit  some  snow  still  lingered  when  two-thirds  of  the 
month  of  August  had  passed.  The  city  stretches  back  towards  the 
mountains  and  derives  its  food  supply  from  a  splendid  valley  which 
extends  toward  the  west  to  the  Atlantic.  At  one  time  Granada  had 
a  population  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  but  to-day  less  than 
a  third  of  that  number  can  be  counted  in  the  city.  In  the  height  of 
its  glorv  Granada's  kings  held  court  in  oriental  fashion  and  sur- 
rounded themselves  with  a  luxury  which  the  colder  countries  of  the 
north  did  not  attempt  to  imitate.    When  the  Indians  roamed  over  the 


460  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

prairies  and  hunted  through  the  forests  of  the  western  hemisphere, 
the  Arab  ruler  had  his  palace  on  the  height  of  Alhambra  and,  turn- 
ing his  face  toward  Mecca,  prayed  for  the  extermination  of  the  infidel ; 
his  warriors  went  out  from  this  fortress  to  ravage  the  surrounding 
country  and,  returning  laden  with  spoil,  held  high  carnival  on  the 
banks  of  the  Darro.  The  fairest  of  the  women  of  his  race  were  gath- 
ered into  the  harem  and  flowers  and  fountains  gave  perfume  and 
freshness  to  his  habitation. 

Washington  Irving  has  contributed  so  much  to  literature  on  the 
Alhambra  and  its  legends  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  undertake  a 
description  of  this  fascinating  palace  of  the  Moorish  kings.  It  crowns 
a  hill  much  as  the  Parthenon  crowns  the  Acropolis,  or  as  the  summer 
residence  of  Mexico's  president  crowns  Chapultepec.  Irving  found 
the  palace  neglected  and  occupied  by  wandering  families  whose  mem- 
bers felt  no  interest  in  its  preservation.  He  helped  to  arouse  an  inter- 
est in  the  place  which  has  led  the  government  not  only  to  protect  it 
from  further  vandalism,  but  to  restore  many  of  its  parts.  Its  rooms, 
halls,  audience  chambers,  courts  and  baths  are  all  finished  in  most 
elaborate  style.  As  in  other  Mohammedan  buildings,  the  ornament- 
ation is  in  geometrical  figures  and  flowers,  as  the  followers  of  this 
religion  carry  their  aversion  to  idolatry  so  far  that  they  do  not  use 
human  figures  or  even  animals  in  decoration.  The  material  employed 
in  the  Alhambra  is  stucco  and  it  is  surprising  what  delicacy  and  grace 
characterize  the  work.  One  finds  here  a  reminder  of.  the  screens  which 
play  so  important  a  part  in  the  tombs  built  by  the  Mohammedan  con- 
querors in  India,  except  that  in  India  marble  is  used 

To  the  American  the  room  known  as  the  Hall  of  the  Ambassadors 
is  especially  interesting  because  in  this  room,  if  the  word  of  the 
guide  can  be  relied  upon,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  received  Columbus 
just  before  he  embarked  upon  his  voyage  of  discovery. 

A  part  of  the  Alhambra  was  torn  down  by  order  of  Charles  the 
Fifth,  who,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  conceived  the  idea  of  build- 
ing himself  a  palace  of  modern  design.  The  structure  was  never  fin- 
ished, however,  and  stands  to-day  a  ruin,  more  substantial  but  less 
beautiful  than  the  palace  which  it  was  intended  to  outshine.  The  Moors 
built  a  great  cistern  within  the  outer  walls  of  Alhambra  and  brought 
water  from  the  mountains  to  supply  it.  It  is  so  far  below  the  surface 
that  the  water  is  always  cool  and  the  water  is  so  perfectly  filtered  that 
even  now  it  is  greatly  sought  for  drinking.  This  far-sighted  provision 
not  only  for  present  wants,  but  for  possible  siege,  seems  to  have  been 
characteristic  of  the  Moms,  for  the  city  of  Constantinople  was  like- 
wise protected  by  immense  underground  reservoirs. 


t-3 
W 


b* 

W 
W 


462  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Granada  has  a  considerable  gypsy  population.  From  the  Alhambra 
one  can  see  their  dwellings  on  an  opposite  hillside.  The  rooms  are 
hewn  out  of  the  stone,  with  only  the  door  visible.  All  in  all,  Granada 
offers  as  much  of  variety  as  one  can  find  anywhere  in  Europe  and 
more  glimpses  of  the  oriental  life  of  the  past  than  can  be  seen  any- 
where else  west  of  the  Bosphorus. 

The  rock  of  Gibraltar  has  no  advertising  matter  on  it.  In  this 
respect  only  does  it  differ  from  the  photographs  with  which  every 
reader  is  familiar.  It  is,  however,  larger  than  the  pictures  indicate. 
It  is  an  immense  limestone  formation  rising  abruptly  from  the  water 
to  a  height  of  fourteen  hundred  feet.  It  is  about  three  miles  long 
and  at  the  widest  point  three-quarters  of  a  mile  across.  It  is  evident 
that  it  was  once  an  island,  for  the  low,  flat  strip  of  ground  which 
connects  it  with  the  main  land  seems  to  have  been  formed  by  the 
washing  in  of  the  sand.  The  triangular  face  of  the  rock,  which  is 
usually  photographed,  looks  toward  the  land  instead  of  toward  the 
sea,  the  water  front  being  much  less  imposing.  A  town  of  twenty-six 
thousand  inhabitants  has  grown  up  around  the  base  of  the  rock,  fully 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  population  being  made  up  of  the  English 
garrison.  It  is  strictly  a  military  town  and  the  government  does  not 
encourage  the  settlement  of  civilians  there.  The  rock  is  full  of  con- 
cealed cannon  and  is  supposed  to  be  impregnable.  It  seems  to  be 
perforated  with  galleries  and  one  sees  the  nose  of  a  cannon  poked  out 
at  every  commanding  point.  When  the  wind  is  from  the  east  a  cloud 
hovers  over  the  rock,  sometimes  concealing  its  summit.  While  the 
harbor  at  Gibraltar  is  not  an  especially  good  one,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
frequented  in  the  world,  and  the  dry  docks  will  accommodate  the 
largest  ships.  Just  beyond  the  rock  of  Gibraltar  there  is  a  strip  of 
neutral  ground,  one  side  sentineled  by  the  British,  the  other  by  the 
Spanish.  Several  thousand  Spaniards  enter  the  city  every  morning, 
for  all  the  manual  labor  is  done  by  them,  and  return  to  their  homes 
at  night.  Just  across  the  bay  or  harbor  is  the  Spanish  city  of  Alge- 
ciras  and,  from  both  Algeciras  and  Gibraltar,  boats  cross  the  strait  to 
Tangiers,  the  Morocco  capital. 

We  had  planned  to  make  this  trip,  but  were  deterred  partly  because 
a  revolution  in  Tangiers  made  it  uncertain  that  we  would  be  able  to 
land,  and  partly  because  unfavorable  weather  threatened  to  delay  our 
return. 

I  found  at  Gibraltar  an  instance  of  hereditary  officeholding  which 
is  not  often  paralleled  among  our  people.  The  position  of  American 
consul  has  been  in  one  family  for  eighty-four  years  consecutively. 
The  present  occupant,  Mr.  Sprague,  is  the  third  of  his  line  to  repre- 


GLIMPSES    OF    SPAIN 


463 


sent  our  government,  his  father,  who  held  the  office  for  over  fifty 
years,  in  turn  succeeding  his  father.  The  present  consul,  Sprague, 
is   intensely    American,    notwithstanding   the    long   residence   of    his 

family  outside  the  country. 

As  the  traveler  leaves  Gibraltar  for  the  west  he  bids  farewell  to 
Africa  and  to  Europe  at  the  same  time — Gibraltar  and  a  somewhat 
similar  rock  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  channel,  the  two,  anciently 
known  as  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  stand  out  in  bold  relief  against  the 
sky.  These  rocks  are  not  the  last  land,  however,  although  the  mosl 
striking  features.  There  is  a  point  a  few  miles  farther  west  known 
as  Tarifa  which,  according  to  tradition,  was  once  occupied  by  bold 
robbers  who  exacted  tribute  from  all  who  passed  by.  It  is  even  said 
that  our  word  tariff  traces  its  origin  to  this  Tarifa;  if  it  be  true  that  the 
two  words  are  related  it  is  fitting  that  Tarifa  should  be  the  last  thing 
seen  by  the  traveler  on  his  departure,  for  the  tariff  is  the  first  thing 
which  he  encounters  upon  his  arrival  in  America. 


RESIGNATION. 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 

A   WORD  TO  TOURISTS. 

The  articles  of  this  series,  taken  in  connection  with  the  articles 
written  during  a  former  visit  to  Europe,  cover  all  of  the  countries 
which  I  have  visited,  and  nothing  is  left  but  to  offer  some  generaliza- 
tions covering  the  more  important  questions  discussed  in  the  course 
of  these  articles.  First,  as  to  routes  of  travel.  We  have  found  the  trip 
c round  the  globe  far  more  instructive  than  we  had  expected,  and  it 
was  entered  upon  for  educational  reasons.  There  is  so  much  to  see 
and  learn  that  one  can  occupy  an  indefinite  time  in  travel.  We  set 
'apart  a  year  for  the  trip  and  reached  home  sixteen  days  within  the 
limit.  Those  who  have  followed  these  letters  will  admit,  I  think,  that 
we  have  covered  a  great  deal  of  ground  and  seen  a  great  deal  of  the 
world.  If  we  were  repeating  the  trip,  I  hardly  know  of  any  country 
that  we  could  afford  to  leave  out,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  better 
to  start  from  the  Pacific  coast  than  from  the  Atlantic.  One  could 
make  the  trip  in  half  the  time  that  we  spent  and  see  a  great  deal, 
but  he  can  see  more  if  he  has  a  year  or  two  to  spare  for  the  journey. 

If  one  desires  to  make  the  trip  in  six  months,  he  should  set  apart 
about  two  months  for  ocean  travel.  He  could  then  devote  two  weeks 
to  Japan,  ten  days  to  China,  a  week  to  Manila,  three  weeks  to  India, 
a  week  to  Egypt,  two  weeks  to  the  Holy  Land,  a  week  to  Greece  and 
Constantinople,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  to  Europe.  To  go  through 
Korea  would  require  ten  days  or  two  weeks  more,  but  the  Hermit 
Kingdom  is  different  from  any  other  country,  and  its  queer  people 
are  worth  seeing.  Very  few  of  the  tourists  have  visited  Pekin,  and 
yet,  it  is  in  some  respects  the  most  interesting  of  the  Chinese  cities. 
The  Manchu  element  of  the  Chinese  population — the  ruling  element 
— can  only  be  seen  at  Pekin  or  in  the  northern  districts.  The  Great 
Wall  is  near  Pekin,  and  the  wall  around  the  city  of  Pekin  is  even 
more  imposing  than  the  great  wall  itself.  The  Altar  of  Heaven,  the 
most  beautiful  and  elaborate  sacrificial  altar  on  earth,  is  in  the  sub- 
urbs of  the  Chinese  capital  and  in  itself  well  repays  a,  visit. 

464 


A     WORD    TO    TOl   EtISTS  465 

lentil  recently  Pekin  could  only  be  entered  from  the  sea  via  Tien- 
tsin. The  railroad,  however,  from  Pekin  to  Hankow  was  aboul 
completed  when  we  were  there,  and  this  greatly  facilitate-  travel 
through  the  interior.  If  one  goes  on  through  Korea,  it  is  besl  to  go  on 
to  Pekin  by  water  and  then  go  on  the  railroad  to  Hankow  and  down 
the  Yangtse  river  to  Shanghai. 

Every  American  who  visits  the  Orient  should  spend  some  days  in 
the  Philippine  Islands.  He  owes  it  to  his  country  to  do  so.  If  he 
will  visit  the  schools,  he  will  be  convinced  that  there  is  increasing 
intelligence  in  the  islands,  and  he  will  not  doubl  that  the  people  want 
independence.  An  inspection  of  the  factories  will  prove  that  the  Fili- 
pinos are  industrious  as  well  as  intelligent. 

It  takes  about  two  weeks  to  go  from  Singapore  to  Java  and  return, 
but  we  remember  that  visit  as  one  of  the  most  delightful  parts  of  the 
trip.  The  ruined  temple  at  Boro  Boedoer,  the  delicious  fruits,  the 
terraced  hills,  the  far  reaching  rice  fields  and  the  shady  drives  linger 
in  one's  memory. 

To  visit  Ceylon,  Burma  and  India  requires  a  good  deal  of  travel 
upon  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  We  went  to  Ceylon,  then  back  to  Burma, 
then  on  to  Calcutta.  Some  go  to  Burma  and  then  to  India  and  return 
to  Ceylon  from  Bombay,  but  all  three  of  these  countries  are  interesting, 
and  one  can  hardly  afford  to  pass  by  any  of  them.  Burma  is  the 
home  of  Buddhism,  and  one  can  learn  more  of  the  worship  of  Buddha 
here  than  anywhere  else.  The  yellow-robed  priest  with  his  begging- 
bowl  is  everywhere  present. 

I  have  already  discussed  India  and  Egypt  somewhat  in  detail,  and 
no  traveler  need  be  urged  to  visit  these  countries.  Palestine,  however, 
is  skipped  by  so  many  travelers  that  I  may  be  pardoned  a  word  of 
advice.  Of  all  the  countries  which  we  visited  none  interested  us  more 
than  the  Holy  Land,  and  no  member  of  a  Christian  church  can  afford 
to  visit  southern  Europe  or  pass  through  the  Suez  canal  without  seeing 
that  portion  of  Asia  which  is  immortalized  by  Bible  history.  The 
ruins  at  Baalbek,  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable  in  the  world, 
attract  many  to  Beyrout,  Damascus  and  the  Lebanons,  but  the  Sea 
of  Galilee,  Jerusalem  and  the  Jordan  have  lessons  for  the  tourist  of 
far  greater  importance  than  can  be  derived  from  the  ruins  of  heathen 
temples. 

If  the  reader  lacks  either  time,  inclination  or  means  for  a  trip 
around  the  world,  he  will  find  one  of  the  shorter  trips  to  Europe 
only  second  in  interest  and  value.  The  Mediterranean  trip  is  a  very 
popular  one.  This,  according  to  its  length,  permits  a  visit  to  Gibraltar, 
Alexandria,  Cairo,  Palestine,  Constantinople,  Greece  and  Italy.     From 


466 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


Gibraltar  it  is  a  short  trip  to  Granada,  Cordova  and  Madrid,  and  our 
own  experience  leads  me  to  commend  this  trip  to  the  traveler.  At 
Cairo  and  Constantinople  the  Orient  comes  nearest  to  Europe  and 
America,  and  the  difference  between  the  Orient  and  the  western  world 
is  so  striking  that  no  one  visiting  southern  Europe  should  miss  the 
Nile  and  Bosphorus.  One  can  spend  weeks,  and  even  months, 
about  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean ;  Africa,  Asia  Minor  and  Europe 
all  touch  upon  this  great  inland  sea.  Without  leaving  its  shores  one 
can  study  the  most  opposite  types  which  the  human  race  has  produced 
and  at  the  same  time  study  the  history  of  the  oldest  periods  knowm 


K& 


S*  v.../ 


VESUVIUS  AS   SEEN    FROM  .NAPLES. 


to  man.     Egypt   should  be  visited  before  the  end  of  March,  while 
April  is  the   best  month  for  a  trip  to  Palestine. 

In  Italy  alone  one  could  occupy  a  winter.  Rome,  the  center  of  the 
Catholic  world  and  the  home  of  the  Csesars,  is  a  most  fascinating 
city.  There  are  no  mosaics  like  those  of  St.  Peters  and  few  galleries 
equal  those  of  the  Vatican,  while  masterpieces  of  sculptors  and  paint 
ers  are  to  be  found  on  every  hand.  The  old  Roman  forum  is  the 
Mecca  of  the  -Indent,  and  the  Coliseum  is  still  a  wonder,  defying  as 
it  has  the  storms  of  nearly  two  thousand  years.     At  Naples  one  sees 


A    WORD    TO    TOURISTS  467 

Vesuvius  and  lava  beds  formed  but  a  few  months  ago.  At  one  place 
the  stream  of  lava  poured  through  an  archway  and  hardened  a-  it 
cooled.  When  we  were  there  the  lava  was  like  stone  and  could  with 
difficulty  be  broken.  At  Florence  one  sees  the  best  specimens  of  mod- 
ern sculpture,  and  at  Milan  he  visits  one  of  the  most  famous  of  the 
European  cathedrals. 

Venice  is  in  a  class  by  itself.  No  other  city  rivals  it  in  uniqueness. 
Its  streets  are  canals,  and  gondolas  are  the  vehicles  in  which  potentate, 
priest  and  plebeian  ride.  It  draws  visitors  from  all  over  the  world 
and  sends  them  away,  after  a  short  visit,  glad  that  they  came  and 
equally  glad  to  escape  from  the  dampness  of  the  place. 

If  one  desires  a  summer  trip,  he  can  find  few  journeys  more  delight- 
ful than  those  through  Switzerland  and  along  the  Rhine.  Lakes, 
rivers  and  mountains — these  are  to  be  found  in  abundance,  with 
cities  enough  to  supply  the  population  and  hotels  to  accommodate  the 
the  tourists.  If  one  would  combine  pleasure  with  instruction,  he  can 
profitably  employ  considerable  time  in  visiting  the  German  universi- 
ties at  Heidelberg  and  Leipsic  and  the  art  galleries  at  Dresden  and 
Munich.  The  cathedral  at  Cologne,  it  may  be  added,  is  by  many 
preferred  to  the  cathedral  at  Milan. 

The  northern  portions  of  Europe  are  even  more  inviting  to  the 
summer  tourist  than  Switzerland  or  the  Rhine.  The  lakes  of  Ireland 
and  Scotland  and  the  seacoast  resorts  of  England  and  Holland  give 
rest  and  recuperation  to  multitudes  every  year.  If  I  were  going  to 
suggest  a  summer  trip,  it  would  be  as  follows: 

Leave  New  York  early  in  June,  land  at  Liverpool,  cross  over  to 
Newcastle  and  take  a  steamer  for  Bergen,  Norway.  A  week  can  be 
spent  delightfully  in  the  fjords  and  on  the  lakes  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Bergen.  Such  a  combination  of  deep  water  and  rugged  mountain 
sides,  rushing  streams  and  crystal  lakes  is  hard  to  find.  Then  let  the 
tourist  proceed  to  Trondhjem,  the  ancient  capital,  where  King  Haakon 
was  recently  crowned.  From  Trondhjem,  the  traveler  can  reach  the 
Arctic  circle  in  a  little  more  than  a  day.  While  a  day's  stay  is  suffi- 
cient in  the  land  of  the  midnight  sun  if  the  sky  is  clear,  it  is  better 
to  allow  one's  self  two  or  three  days'  leeway  as  it  is  often  cloudy  in 
this  latitude  and  at  this  time  of  the  year.  The  midnight  sun  must 
be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  No  description  can  do  it  justice.  To  pass 
from  day  to  day  with  no  intervening  night,  to  watch  the  sun  linger 
for  a  while  in  the  north  near  the  horizon  and  then  begin  a  new  day's 
work  without  a  moment's  sleep  gives  one  a  sensation  not  soon  forgot- 
ten. A  railroad  across  Norway  brings  Christiania  within  a  day's  ride 
of  Trondhjem,  and  from  Christiania  to  Stockholm  is  another  day. 


468  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Stockholm  is  .-are  to  charm  the  visitor.  It  is  a  beautiful  town 
beautifully  situated;  it  .-lands  where  the  waters  of  the  lakes  and  the 
ocean  meet.  Several  days  can  be  spent  in  Stockholm  to  advantage, 
and  then  one  is  prepared  for  the  boat  ride  to  St.  Petersburg,  one  of 
the  rarest  experiences  that  one  can  find  in  travel.  The  boat  wends  its 
way  through  islands  almost  the  entire  distance. 

A  week's  stay  in  St.  Petersburg  will  give  an  opportunity  for  an 
inspection  of  the  capital  of  the  greatest  of  the  nations  measured  by 
territory,  and  one  of  the  greatest  measured  by  population.  Here  one 
has  a  chance  to  learn  something  of  the  Greek  Church  with  its  splendid 
cathedrals,  rivaling  the  cathedrals  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
-Moscow  is  even  more  distinctly  Russian  than  St.  Petersburg,  and  the 
art  gallery  there  surpasses  the  one  at  St.  Petersburg  in  its  collection 
of  the  works  of  Russian  artists.  Tolstoy's  summer  home  is  not  far 
from  Moscow,  and  many  take  advantage  of  the  trip  to  see  the  greatest 
of  living  philosophers. 

The  ride  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow  and  from  "Moscow  to  War- 
saw gives  a  very  good  view  of  the  interior  of  Russia,  and  one  can  stop 
off  at  most  any  place  and  learn  something  of  the  village  life  of  the 
Russian  peasant.  Several  days  can  be  occupied  in  Berlin,  and  other 
points  of  interest  can  easily  be  reached  from  Germany's  capital.  Copen- 
hagen, the  capital  of  Denmark,  is  only  half  a  day's  ride  distant.  Han- 
over, Hamburg,  Brussels,  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague  are  all  within 
easy  reach.  In  Germany  one  has  an  opportunity  to  learn  a  great 
deal  about  forestry,  agriculture  and  landscape  gardening.  The  parks, 
groves,  shady  drives  and  boulevards  furnish  the  American  traveler 
with  many  suggestions  while  the  battlefield  of  Waterloo  and  the  low- 
lands of  Holland  will  ever  be  interesting  to  the  student  of  history. 

The  tour  can  be  completed  by  a  visit  to  Paris  and  London.  The 
social  season  in  the  latter  ends  early  in  August  with  the  adjourn- 
ment of  parliament.  In  three  months'  time  one  can  make  this  northern 
trip  and  return  with  a  fund  of  information  about  the  countries  and 
their  peoples  which  could  never  be  collected  from  books.  It  is  not 
an  expensive  trip  even  for  first  class  travel,  and  the  accommodations 
furnished  by  the  steamers  and  railroads  for  second  class  passengers 
are  such  that  one  can  reduce  his  expenses  considerably  without  dis- 
comfort. 

But  let  me  add,  in  conclusion,  that  one  does  not  have  to  leave 
America  to  find  places  of  interest  and  that  no  one  can  justify  a  trip 
abroad  until  he  has  become  acquainted  with  his  own  country.  Europe 
has  no  summer  resorts  that  surpass  the  cities  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  on 
our  northern  lakes  and  in  the  mountains  of  the  west.    In  America  one 


A    WORD    TO    TOURISTS  469 

can  have  every  variety  from  salt-sea  bathing  to  mountain  climbing, 
with  fishing  thrown  in.  In  natural  scenery  there  is  nothing  in  Europe 
which  surpasses  the  Niagara,  Yellowstone  Park,  and  the  Yosemito 
Valley  of  California.  There  are  no  agricultural  views  which  surpass 
tho.se  in  the  valleys  on  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri,  and 
for  a  restful  winter  trip  Hawaii,  Mexico  and  Cuba  offer  attractions 
that  are  unexcelled.  While  the  Western  Hemisphere  is  not  so  old  in 
its  civilization,  the  only  advantage  that  the  Orient  and  Europe  can 
furnish  is  in  the  variety  of  races,  customs  and  religions.  In  natural 
scenery  America  satisfies  all  expectations.  Nothing  but  the  Hima- 
layas oilers  more  sublime  heights,  and  the  earth  has  no  other  chasm 
equal  to  the  Grand  Canyon  of  Arizona.  After  one  has  seen  the  won- 
ders of  America  and  the  possibilities  of  its  soil,  its  institutions  and  its 
people,  he  can  go  abroad  with  the  assurance  that  he  will  return,  more 
widely  informed,  it  is  true,  but  more  intensely  American  than  before. 
There  is  no  country  like  ours,  whether  it  be  measured  by  the  bountiful 
gifts  of  the  Creator  or  by  the  works  of  man.  In  all  that  goes  to  make 
a  nation  great  materially,  commercially,  intellectually,  politically  and 
morally,  our  country  has  no  peer.  The  American,  returning  to  his 
own  shores,  feels  like  thanking  Scott  for  expressing  so  felicitously  the 
traveler's  sentiments : 

' '  Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 
This  is  my  own,  my  native  land  ; 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burn'd 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turn'd 
From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand  ? 
If  such  there  breathe,  go,  mark  him  well , 
For  him  no  minstrel  raptures  swell ; 
High  though  his  titles,  proud  his  name. 
Boundless  his  wealth  as  wish  can  claim, — 
Despite  those  titles,  power  and  pelf, 
The  wretch,  concentred  all  in  self, 
Living,  shall  forfeit  fair  renown, 
And,  doubly  dying,  shall  go  down 
To  the  vile  dust  from  whence  he  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonor'd  and  unsung. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

AMERICAN  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

In  former  letters  I  have  mentioned  the  missionary  work  being  done 
by  Americans  in  the  Orient,  and  I  deem  the  subject  important  enough 
for  an  article,  in  view  of  the  conflicting  reports  which  have  been 
brought  back  by  tourists.  We  had  an  opportunity  to  investigate  the 
work  done  by  American  missionaries  in  Hawaii,  Japan,  Korea,  China, 
Singapore,  India,  Egypt,  Palestine  and  Turkey.  We  met  representa- 
tives of  nearly  all  the  churches  in  the  various  departments  of  mission- 
ary work,  and  as  a  result  of  our  observations  our  interest  in  foreign 
missions  has  been  quickened.  In  Hawaii  the  missionaries  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  present  civilization  in  the  islands  and  exerted  a 
most  beneficial  influence  upon  the  natives. 

In  Japan  the  missionary  work  has  spread  rapidly  and  is  carried 
on  under  four  heads.  The  religious  teacher  presents  the  gospel  and 
establishes  churches;  the  school  teacher  arouses  an  interest  in  educa- 
tion and  establishes  schools;  the  medical  missionary,  by  unselfishly 
rendering  obvious  service,  opens  the  way  for  both  the  preacher  and 
the  school  teacher,  while  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and 
its  accompanying  organization,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, weld  the  church  membership  into  a  religious  but  unsectarian 
working  body.  The  rapid  growth  in  public  instruction  has  some- 
what dwarfed  the  relative  importance  of  the  mission  schools  in  Japan, 
and  the  spread  of  the  science  of  medicine  has  made  the  work  of  the 
medical  missionary  less  conspicuous  there,  but  the  religious  teacher 
in  Japan  has  a  field  which  is  not  surpassed  anywhere.  The  Japanese 
people  are  rapidly  drifting  away  from  Buddhism,  which  until  recently 
was  the  national  faith.  Shintoism,  which  has  become  the  state  relig- 
ion, is  not  a  religion  at  all,  but  a  reverence  for  ancestors.  Japan  must 
have  a  religion,  for  no  nation  is  likely  to  avoid  decay  unless  its  morals 
are  reinforced  by  religion.  If  I  had  the  authority  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion, I  would  send  some  of  the  leading  men  of  each  denomination 
to  Japan  to  present  Christianity  to  the  educated  Japanese.  English 
i3  taught  in  the  schools  of  Japan,  and  one  can  speak  to  the  Japanese 
without  the  aid  of  an  interpreter.     This  proposition  I  tested  several 

470 


AMERICAN    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  171 

times.  While  it  would  be  an  advantage  to  have  preachers  who  could 
speak  the  Japanese  language,  still,  it  is  more  important  thai  we  should 
send  our  ablest  divines  there — men  who  can  meel  the  mosl  intelligent 
of  the  Japanese  upon  an  equal  footing  and  defend  before  them  the 
Christian  philosophy  of  life. 

Japan  is  the  gateway  of  the  Orient,  and  is  to-day  exerting  an  influ- 
ence upon  China  greater  than  the  combined  influence  of  ;ill  the 
European  nations.  Western  civilization  is  likely  to  enter  China 
through  .Japan.  In  fact,  I  believe  that  the  Christian  religion,  pre- 
sented to  the  Chinese  by  the  Japanese,  would  spread  more  rapidly 
than  if  presented  in  any  other  way.  for  China  has  come  to  regard 
Japan  as  a  leader  of  thought.  More  than  five  thousand  Chinese 
students  are  now  at  schools  in  Japan,  and  Japanese  teachers  are  being 
more  and  more  employed  in  China.  Some  of  the  mosl  earnest  Chris- 
tians whom  we  met  are  natives  of  Japan.  At  Tokyo,  at  Kioto,  and  at 
Kagoshima  I  was  especially  impressed  with  the  sincerity  and  en- 
thusiasm of  the  Japanese  Christians.  I  could  not  but  recall  the  lines 
'"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds  our  hearts  in  Christian  love"  as  I  saw 
how  much  stronger  this  heart  tie  is  than  the  ties  of  blood  or  race  or 
language. 

In  Seoul,  Korea,  we  found  a  very  successful  medical  mission  and  a 
nourishing  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  We  also  learned  of 
several  Christian   congregations. 

In  China  mission  work  has  made  great  progress,  although  it  has 
had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  fight  now  being  made  against  foreign 
influence.  During  the  Boxer  trouble  there  were  examples  of  heroism 
among  the  Chinese  Christians  which  recalled  the  early  days  of  mar- 
tyrdom. There  were  those  who  suffered  death  because  of  their 
devotion  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  thousands  more  who  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  take  the  part  of  the  white  Christians  against  members  of  their 
own  race.  It  takes  time  to  educate  a  race  or  to  make  an  impression  upon 
a  great  population  like  the  population  of  China,  but  the  next  quarter 
of  a  century  is  likely  to  see  the  Christian  religion  spread  more  rapidly 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Flowery  Kingdom  than  it  has  during 
the  last  century. 

That  our  missionaries  often  make  mistakes  need  not  be  denied. 
They  are  human,  and  to  err  is  the  lot  of  all.  A  missionary  among 
strangers  must  exercise  more  sagacity  and  discretion  than  one  who 
works  among  people  of  his  own  race.  The  wonder  is  not  that  mission- 
aries make  mistakes,  but  that  they  do  not  make  more  than  are  now 
charged  to  them,  [t  is  even  possible  that  a  missionary  occasionally 
proves  untrue  to  his  calling — is  it  strange  that   this  should  happen 


472  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

to  a  missionary  almost  alone  and  with  but  little  sympathetic  support, 
when  it  sometimes  happens  to  ministers  who  are  surrounded  by  friends 

and  Indued  in  so  that  a  fall  would  seem  almost  impossible? 

One  part  of  the  missionary's  work  has  received  scant  notice,  namely 
■ — the  planting  of  western  ideas  in  the  Orient.  The  daily  life  of  a 
missionary  is  not  only  a  constant  sermon,  but  to  a  certain  extent,  an 
expositioD  of  western  way.-.  His  manner  of  dress  and  his  manner  of  liv- 
ing arc  noted,  and  even  if  he  did  not  say  a  word,  he  would  make  mi 
impression  upon  ih<>-r  about  him.  It  would  be  worth  while  to  send 
Christians  to  the  Orient  merely  to  show  the  fullness  and  richness  of 
a  Christian  life.  for.  after  all,  the  example  of  an  upright  person,  living 
a  life  of  service  according  to  the  Christian  ideal,  is  more  eloquent  than 
any  sermon — it  is  the  unanswerable  argument  in  favor  of  our  religion. 

It  is  sometimes  suggested  by  those  unfriendly  to  missionary  work 
that  missionaries  live  in  too  great  comfort.  This  criticism  will  not 
have  weight  with  those  who  have  attempted  to  live  in  the  Orient  upon 
the  .-alary  of  a  missionary,  but  even  if  the  missionaries  lived  more 
luxuriantly  than  they  do,  that  would  still  exert  a  beneficial  influence. 
As  the  Chinaman  becomes  educated  he  learns  of  the  manners  and 
custom-  of  the  people  of  other  nations,  and  the  home  of  the  missionary 
gives  an  opportunity  for  comparisons.  In  China  there  is  polygamy, 
while  the  missionary  has  but  one  wife.  In  the  Chinese  home  the 
birth  of  u  son  is  the  occasion  for  rejoicing;  the  birth  of  a  daughter 
an  occasion  for  less  rejoicing,  if  not  actual  mourning.  In  the  mission- 
ary's home  the  girl  child  is  as  welcome  as  the  boy.  The  missionary"- 
wife  is  not  only  a  standing  rebuke  to  the  practice  of  foot-binding,  but 
is  a  -timulus  to  the  movement  now  setting  in  for  the  education  of 
women. 

The  Catholic  mk-ionarie-  reach  a  class  which  might  not  be  reached 
by  Protestant  missignaries  and  Protestant  missionaries  appeal  to  some 
who  could  not  be  reached  by  the  Catholic  missionaries.  Each  church 
does  its  own  work  in  its  own  way.  and  the  result  is  better  than  if  either 
church  attempted  to  follow  the  example  of  the  other.  The  celibacy 
of  the  priest  and  his  voluntary  sacrifice  of  home  and  its  joys  that  he 
may  more  fully  devote  himself  to  religion — these  appeal  to  some, 
especially  to  those  who  have  been  impressed  with  the  asceticism  of  the 
religious  teachers  of  the  Orient.  There  are  others,  however,  who  are 
more  impressed  with  a  form  of  Christianity  which  does  not  deny  to 
its  ministers  the  advantages  of  the  family.  In  other  words,  the 
different  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  each  pursuing  its  own  way. 
meet  the  widely  different  needs  of  the  heathen  better  than  any  one 
church  could  do  it. 


AMERICAN    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  473 

Missionary  work  in  the  Malay  states  has  been  very  slow  because  the 
Malays  arc  nearly  all  Mohammedans,  and  it  has  been  found  difficull 
to  make  headway  against  this  religion.  The  Mohammedan  believes 
in  one  God,  accepts  most  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  regards  Chrisl 
as  a  great  prophet,  but  claims  that  Mahomel  was  a  later  prophet  and 
a  greater  Que. 

Burma,  the  home  of  Buddhism,  is  one  of  the  best  missionary  fields, 
and  great  success  has  attended  the  Baptist  mission,  which  has  its 
headquarters  at  Rangoon. 

For  many  years  American  missionaries  have  been  establishing  schools 
and  churches  in  India.  While  this  field  has  also  been  developed  by 
the  English  missionaries,  I  was  informed  that  a  majority  of  the 
Sunday  school  children  are  now  attending  American  Sunday  schools. 
It  is  one  of  the  indisputable  proofs  of  our  country's  supremacy  in 
altruistic  work  that  though  drawing  nothing  whatever  from  India  in 
the  way  of  revenue,  it  sends  into  India  every  year  for  religious  and 
educational  purposes  almost  as  much  as  England  does,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  England  draws  something  like  a  hundred  millions  a  year 
from  India. 

AVe  found  the  various  departments  of  Christian  work  growing  vig- 
orously in  India.  Medical  missionaries  are  winning  the  confidence 
and  the  affections  of  the  unfortunate;  teachers  are  bringing  increasing 
thousands  to  a  higher  level  of  intellectual  development;  and  the  min- 
isters are  explaining  to  the  people  why  it  is  that  the  Christian  is 
sympathetic  and  benevolent.  Simply  stated,  the  medical  missionary 
compels  attention,  the  school  teacher  takes  the  one  whose  attention 
has  been  aroused  and  furnishes  an  education  which  enables  the  pupil 
to  see  things  in  their  proper  relation,  while  the  minister  points  out 
the  philosophy  of  the  efforts  of  the  other  two  and  presents  the  concep- 
tion of  life,  which  leads  both  medical  missionary  and  teacher  to  sep- 
arate themselves  from  home  and  friends  and  devote  themselves  to  peo- 
ple wTho  are  connected  with  them  only  by  the  primal  ties  which  bind 
each  human  being  to  every  other. 

I  shall  long  remember  two  meetings  which  I  addressed  in  India. 
One  wTas  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Allahabad,  one 
of  the  centers  of  the  Hindu  religion.  At  the  conclusion  ox  my  address 
an  Indian  arose  and  addressed  me  as  follows.  "Mr.  Bryan,  you  can  not 
judge  of  the  influence  of  Christianity  upon  our  country  by  the  number 
of  church  members.  The  spirit  of  Christ  and  the  Christian  ideal  have 
made  an  impression  far  wider  than  the  church  membership  would  indi- 
cate. Tell  your  people  that  the  Indians  are  grateful  to  them  for  the 
missionaries  and  teachers  whom  they  have  sent  among  us,  and  tell  them 


474  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

how  few  these  are  in  number  compared  with  our  needs.  Send  us  more, 
and  assure  your  people  that  we  appreciate  the  benefits  received  from 
America." 

This  unsolicited  testimonial  to  the  good  work  of  our  missionaries 
and  teachers  is  entirely  deserved.  The  influence  of  Christianity  upon 
the  Orient  is  vastly  greater  than  one  would  think,  if  the  church 
membership  were  the  test.  The  stimulus  which  is  given  to  Eastern 
thought  is  enormous,  and  -already  the  Hindus,  Parsees  and  Moham- 
medans are  imitating  the  methods  of  the  Christian  world  and  estab- 
lishing schools  independent  of  the  government.  The  education  of 
the  boys  is  proceeding  more  rapidly  than  the  education  of  the  girls, 
but  the  latter  is  not  entirely  neglected.  One  Mohammedan  woman, 
of  Bombay,  of  unusual  mental  strength  and  character,  outlined  a  plan 
which  she  had  formed  for  establishing  a  school  for  the  women  of 
her  religious  faith. 

The  Bombay  meeting  was  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable 
meeting  that  I  ever  addressed.  Rev.  Mr.  Mell,  an  American,  is  pastor 
of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Bombay.  While  in  Calcutta  I  received  a 
letter  from  him  asking  me  to  deliver  in  Bombay,  in  his  church,  the 
lecture  entitled  "The  Prince  of  Peace,"  which  I  delivered  at  Tokyo 
and  at  Manila.  As  the  time  approached  for  the  meeting,  he  concluded 
that  his  church  would  not  be  large  enough  for  the  audience  and 
arranged  to  secure  the  Town  Hall,  which  accommodates  about  three 
thousand  people.  He  was  somewhat  fearful  that  this  hall  would  be 
larger  than  necessary,  but  it  was  the  only  audience  room  that  he 
could  secure.  When  the  time  came  for  the  meeting,  the  hall  was  not 
only  filled  to  overflowing,  but  the  crowd  outside  was  such  that  it  was 
difficult  for  us  to  effect  an  entrance.  On  the  platform  were  promi- 
nent Hindus,  Mohammedans'  and  Parsees,  and  three-fourths  of  the 
audience,  at  least,  was  made  up  of  non-Christian  Indians.  Yet  these 
people  listened  for  more  than  an  hour  to  a  defense  of  the  Christian 
religion — listened  as  attentively  as  any  audience  ever  listened  to  a 
political  speech,  and  when  I  went  from  the  hall,  the  younger  men 
were  massed  along  the  way  and  cheered  as  our  people  cheer  during 
the  campaign.  The  next  day  I  received  a  letter  from  one  of  the 
young  men  thanking  me  for  shaking  hands  with  him  as  I  passed  out. 

In  the  letters  on  India  I  have  referred  to  the  Presbyterian  college 
at  Allahabad.  At  Bombay  we  found  a  Congregational  school  for  boys 
and  girls  and  a  school  for  the  blind.  It  touches  one's  heart  to  see 
lluse  sightless  little  Indians  cared  for  by  American  philanthropy  and, 
under  the  teaching  of  sympathetic  friends,  made  more  capable  of  self- 
support  and  raised  to  a  higher  intellectual  level  than  millions  who  can 


AMERICAN    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  475 

see.  Many  of  the  children  taken  into  these  schools  are  orphans  whose 
parents  died  during  the  famines.  What  a  history  might  be  written 
il  the  events  of  their  lives  were  put  on  record,  and  how  much  evidence 
would  be  furnished  to  those  who  endeavor  to  trace  the  providence 
of  God  in  the  lives  of  individuals  as  well  as  in  the  course  of  nations. 

I  have  in  another  article  referred  to  the  work  of  the  United  Presby- 
terians in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate 
the  influence  which  these  pioneer  Americans  have  exerted  over  the 
descendants  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  government  is  giving  more  and 
more  attention  to  educational  matters  in  Egypt,  but  the  first  work 
was  done  by  the  missionaries,  and  no  one  can  appreciate  what  this 
work  means  who  has  not  had  an  opportunity  to  compare  the  boys 
and  the  girls  in  the  schools  with  the  children  who  are  growing  up  in 
ignorance  outside.  In  Jerusalem  the  Catholic  school  for  girls  most 
interested  us,  and  I  need  not  add  that  the  Catholic  missionaries  have 
in  many  countries  been  the  first  to  risk  their  lives  in  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  and  in  the  establishment  of  schools,  orphan  asylums  and  hos- 
pitals. 

In  Syria  and  in  Turkey  the  Americans  are  very  active.  For  half 
a  century  they  have  made  Beyrout  headquarters  for  Syria,  and  their 
churches  and  schools  are  scattered  all  over  this  portion  of  Asia.  At 
Constantinople  uiso  we  met  a  large  company  of  the  representatives 
of  the  various  American  churches,  and  their  schools  have  been  built 
on  both  sides  of  the  Bosphorus. 

Why  spend  money  on  foreign  missions?  If  the  Oriental  is  happy 
in  his  idolatry  or  in  his  worship  of  God  through  other  religious  forms, 
why  disturb  him?  These  questions  may  be  answered  in  various  ways, 
but  one  answer  will  suffice  for  the  purpose  of  this  article.  The  Chris- 
tian ideal  of  life  is  the  highest  ideal.  There  is  no  more  beautiful  con- 
ception of  life  than  that  it  is  an  overflowing  spring.  There  is  no  true 
measure  of  greatness  except  the  Christian  measure,  namely — service. 
If  this  ideal  is  good  enough  for  America,  it  is  good  enough  for  all  the 
world.  If  truth  must,  according  to  eternal  laws,  triumph,  then  this 
ideal  must  triumph  over  all  lower  ones,  and  how  can  it  triumph  over 
lower  ideals  unless  it.  is  brought  into  contact  with  them?  If  we  see 
a  man  engaged  in  some  useful  work,  but  laboring  with  antiquated 
tools,  it  is  a  kindness  to  him  to  offer  him  an  implement  that  will 
increase  his  effectiveness.  If  we  see  a  man  following  a  low  ideal  and 
making  but  little  of  life,  is  it  not  a  kindness  to  offer  him  a  higher  one 
which  will  not  only  enlarge  his  usefulness  but  his  happiness  as  well?  If 
the  Christian  ideal  is  worthy  to  be  followed  in  America,  it  is  worthy 
to  be  presented  in  every  land,  and  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  an 


<476  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

ideal  capable  of  being  made  universal,  for  it  has  commended  itself  to 
people  of  every  clime  and  of  every  tongue. 

But  it  is  said  that  we  must  not  neglect  home  missions  in  our  zeal 
to  carry  the  gospel  and  its  attendant  blessings  to  foreign  shores.  This 
is  a  familiar  objection,  but  as  a  ride  it  is  urged  by  those  who  do  the 
least  for  home  missions.  I  think  I  a  in  far  within  the  truth  when  I 
say  that  the  most  liberal  contributors  to  foreign  missions  are  also  the 
mosl  liberal  contributors  to  home  missions  and  that  those  who  are 
so  afraid  that  work  at  home  will  be  sacrificed  for  work  abroad  are 
the  very  ones  who  themselves  make  few  sacrifices  for  the  work  at 
home.  The  same  spirit  which  leads  one  to  be  generous  in  the  support 
of  those  benevolences  which  are  immediately  about  him  leads  him  to 
take  an  interest  in  the  needy  wherever  they  are  found.  The  same 
spirit  which  makes  one  anxious  to  have  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
known  in  his  neighborhood  leads  him  to  desire  that  the  knowledge  of 
this  sermon  and  the  philosophy  which  it  contains  shall  be  brought  to 
the  people  of  all  the  world. 

There  is  another  answer  to  those  who  say  that  we  must  confine  our 
efforts  to  the  home  field  until  we  have  supplied  every  moral  need.  If 
an  individual  refuses  to  assist  in  the  improvement  of  others  until  he 
has  himself  reached  perfection,  who  will  be  able  to  aid  others?  In 
the  effort  to  help  others  one  often  finds  more  improvement  than  could 
come  from  a  concentration  of  his  efforts  on  himself.  So  the  country 
which  refuses  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  other  lands  until  all  its 
people  have  passed  beyond  the  need  of  improvement  will  do  nothing 
for  the  world.  As  the  contributions  to  benevolences  would  be  small, 
indeed,  if  only  those  contributed  who  could  do  so  without  sacrifice,  so 
the  contributions  to  the  world's  advancement  would  be  but  slight  if 
only  those  helped  others  who  were  not  themselves  in  need  of  help. 

"Let  him  who  would  be  the  chiefest  among  you  be  the  servant  of 
all ;"  if  this  is  the  measure  of  national  greatness,  then  our  nation  is  the 
greatest  of  all,  for  its  contributions  to  the  world  surpass  the  contribu- 
tions made  by  any  other  nation.  These  contributions  are  made  in 
three  ways:  First,  it  contributes  through  the  men  and  women  who 
have  come  from  other  lands  to  study  here,  and  who  carry  American 
ideas  back  to  their  homes;  second,  through  the  men  and  women  who 
have  gone  to  other  lands  as  preachers  and  teachers;  and,  third,  through 
books  and  printed  reports. 

I  venture  the  suggestion  that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  establish 
school-  in  the  United  States  where  representative-  of  other  nations 
could  be  brought  and  made  acquainted  with  Christianity  and  with 
the  institution-    which    have    grown  up  in  Christian    society.     These 


AMERICAN   TOREIOX  MISSIONS 


477 


could  then  go  among  their  own  people  and  preach  with  greater 
effectiveness  than  foreigners  possibly  can. 

Next  to  this  conies  the  education  of  the  natives  in  schools  established 
in  their  own  land  and  this,  of  course,  is  far  Less  expensive.  From  $40 
to  $50  a  year  will  pay  for  the  board,  clothing  and  tuition  of  ;i  student 
in  the  lower  classes  of  an  Oriental  Christian  college.  If  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  Christians  who  could,  without  sacrifice,  educate  one 
student  a  year  could  be  induced  to  contribute  money  for  this  purpose, 
what  an  impetus  would  be  given  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  through- 
out the  Orient!  And  who,  when  he  remembers  what  has  been  accom- 
plished by  one  trained  mind  directed  by  a  high  and  holy  purpose,  will 
attempt  to  estimate  the  beneficent  influence  of  money  thus  spent? 
Who  will  set  limits  to  the  good  that  may  be  done  by  those  Orien- 
tals who  are  preparing  themselves  for  larger  work  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  American  missionaries  and  teachers? 

Making  due  allowance  for  the  frailly  of  human  nature  and  for  the 
mistakes  which  all  are  liable  to  make,  it  may  be  said  without  fear 
of  successful  contradiction  that  the  missionaries,  physicians  and 
teachers  who  consecrate  themselves  to  the  advancement  of  Asia's 
millions  along  Christian  lines  are  as  high  minded,  as  heroic,  as  self- 
sacrificing,  and,  considering  the  great  desti  iy  of  the  race,  as  useful  as 
any  equal  number  of  men  and  women  to  be  found  in  any  other  part 
of  the  world. 


ffif^; 


&  %   §■    ^ 

9>     fat 


V 


-**- 


A    MISSION    SCHOOL 


CHAPTER  XLV. 
WORLD    PROBLEMS. 

Each  locality  has  its  questions  of  interest;  each  state  has  subjects 
which  arouse  discussion;  each  nation  has  its  issues  of  paramount 
importance,  and  the  world  has  its  problems.  There  are  transient 
questions  which  come  and  go  and  questions  which,  like  Tennyson's 
brook,  "go  on  forever."  Each  generation,  in  each  country,  meets 
the  issues  presented  by  conditions,  but  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
are  constantly  grappling  with  problems  universal  in  their  scope  and 
everlasting  in  duration.  In  his  famous  oration  at  Gettysburg,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  spoke  of  an  "unfinished  work"  which  those  buried  there 
had  promoted  and  to  which  the  living  should  dedicate  themselves. 
Every  generation  finds  an  unfinished  work  when  it  enters  upon  life's 
stage  and  leaves  the  work  unfinished  when  it  departs.  The  work  of 
civilization  is  ever  an  unfinished  one  for  the  reason  that  new  prob- 
lems present  themselves  as  soon  as  present  ones  have  been  solved.  In 
our  trip  around  the  world  we  have  had  an  opportunity  to  note  some 
of  the  problems  which  most  concern  all  peoples  at  all  times.  The 
first  concerns  the  legitimate  sphere  of  government — what  should  the 
government,  acting  for  all  the  people,  do,  and  what  should  be  left  to 
the  individual?  This  problem  is  under  consideration  in  every  civil- 
ized nation,  and  no  two  nations  have  reached  the  same  solution.  At 
the  two  extremes  stand  the  individualist  and  the  socialist — the  former 
jealously  guarding  the  individual  and  opposing,  any  encroachments 
upon  his  sphere  of  action,  the  latter  emphasizing  the  work  of  the 
state  and  seeking  to  convert  the  work  of  production  and  the  work  of 
distribution  into  state  functions.  Between  these  extremes  stand  the 
mass  of  the  people,  governed  more  by  the  exigencies  of  each  individual 
case  than  by  the  theories  put  forward  by  individualist  and  socialist. 
In  some  directions  the  governments  of  Europe  and  Asia  have  extended 
the  sphere  of  the  state  beyond  anything  known  in  the  United  States ; 
in  some  respects  our  government  has  enlarged  the  sphere  of  the  state 
beyond  anything  attempted  in  the  old  world,  but  everywhere  the 
tendency  is  to  extend  rather  than  to  diminish  the  sphere  of  the  state's 
activities. 

In  the  United  States  the  public  school  is  probably  the  best  illustra- 

478 


WORLD    PROBLEMS  479 

tion  of  extensive  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  public.  We  regard 
the  education  of  the  people  as  a  matter  of  public  importance — so 
vital  a  matter,  in  fact,  that  we  no  longer  depend  upon  the  private 
school.  The  private  school  has  its  place,  and  its  establishment  is 
encouraged  by  localities  and  regarded  with  favor  by  the  government, 
but  the  people,  acting  as  a  whole,  insist  that  the  school  door  -hall 
be  open  to  every  child  born  into  the  country.  In  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century  much  advance  has  been  made  in  the  establishment  by  the 
public  of  technical  schools,  such  as  law  schools,  medical  colleges,  den- 
tistry schools,  industrial  schools  and  agricultural  colleges.  Probably 
the  greatest  comparative  advance  has  been  made  in  the  matter  of 
agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  stations.  In  Europe  the  public 
school  system  is  spreading,  more  rapidly  in  northern  than  in  southern 
Europe,  but  not  less  surely  in  southern  Europe.  In  Asia  the  people 
are  just  beginning  to  recognize  education  as  a  public  function — a  part 
of  the  state's  work.  In  Japan  public  instruction  has  for  some  years 
been  modeled  after  the  systems  employed  in  the  United  States  and 
Europe.  In  Asia  the  public  school  is  more  of  a  modern  origin,  but 
some  idea  of  the  rapidity  with  which  the  public  school  is  spreading 
in  China  may  be  known  from  the  fact  that  four  thousand  public 
schools  have  been  established  within  five  years  in  the  district  of  one 
of  the  viceroys. 

Municipal  ownership  presents  another  phase  of  this  subject;  a  cen- 
tury ago  comparatively  few  cities  in  this  country  or  Europe  owned 
their  own  waterworks;  now  it  is  the  exception  that  any  city  of  any 
size  relies  upon  a  private  corporation  for  its  water  supply.  City 
lighting  is  having  the  same  history,  although  municipalization  began 
later  with  lighting  plants  than  with  waterworks.  Now  c,omes  the 
question  of  street  car  lines,  and,  as  the  same  principles  apply,  the  same 
inevitable  trend  toward  municipal  ownership  is  noticeable.  The  expe- 
rience of  all  the  cities  has  been  practically  the  same;  first,  liberal  fran- 
chises' to  induce  the  establishment  of  water,  light  or  street  car  plants ; 
second,  efforts  at  regulation  and  restriction,  made  futile  by  the  corrupt 
influence  of  the  franchise  companies;  third,  municipal  ownership  as 
a  protection  to  the  people  and  as  a  means  of  purifying  politics.  In 
the  extent  to  which  municipal  ownership  has  been  carried  Great 
Britain  leads  the  world,  although  in  other  countries  some  cities  like 
Vienna  have  rivaled  the  cities  of  Great  Britain. 

In  nearly  all  of  the  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia  the  telegraph 
lines  are  now  owned  by  the  government,  and  in  most  of  the  cities 
the  telephone  system  is  also  owned  by  the  public.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  say  that  in  all  countries  of  any  standing  the  mail  service  is 


480  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

row  in  the  hands  of  the  government.    There  is  very  noticeable  growth 
in  the  government  ownership  of  railroads.     Many  years  ago  the  gov- 
ernment ownership  of  railroads  was  tested  in  various  European  nations 
and  the  tendency  toward  the  extension  of  government  mileage  and 
the  diminution  of  the  mileage  of  privately  owned  roads  has  been  con- 
stant.    In  some  countries  there  is  still  competition  between  the  gov- 
ernment   lines    and    the    lines    owned    by    private    corporations,    but 
experience  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  lines  owned  by  the  government 
will  ultimately  supplant  the  roads  in  private  hands.     Switzerland  has 
within   four  years   purchased  the   main   railroad  system   within   her 
territory;  Japan  has  within  a  year  extended  the  government  railroads 
by  purchasing  some  of  the  roads  formerly  in  private  hands,  and  the 
Indian  government  is  planning  to  absorb  more  of  the  privately  owned 
lines.     In  France  a  number  of  the  railroads  hold  fifty-year  charters, 
which  have  now  more  than  half  expired,  and  which  provide  for  the 
surrender  of  the  lines  to  the  government  at  the  end  of  that  period — 
the  government  in  the  meantime  guaranteeing  a  fixed  interest  and  an 
annual  contribution  to  the  sinking  fund.   It  is  not  fair  to  compare  the 
government  railroads  of  Europe  with  the  private  railroads  of  America. 
The  conditions  are  quite  different.     The  comparison  should  be  made 
between  the  government  and  private  in  the  same  country.     Experi- 
ence has  shown  that  in  the  United  States  municipal  plants  furnish 
better  and  cheaper  service  than  private  plants. 

"While  local  considerations  and  local  conditions  have  much  to  do  in 
the  determination  of  each  case,  there  is  one  general  principle  which 
is  becoming  more  and  more  clearly  outlined  as  the  question  of  gov- 
ernment ownership  is  discussed,  namely,  that  when  a  monopoly 
becomes  necessary  it  must  be  a  government  monopoly  and  not  a 
monopoly  in  private  hands.  In  other  words,  the  principle  now  most 
familiarly  applied  is,  "competition  where  competition  is  possible;  gov- 
ernment monopoly  where  competition  is  impossible."  I  have  not  space 
for  the  discussion  of  details;  many  different  methods  have  been  em- 
ployed in  different  countries  for  the  acquiring  of  private  plants  by  the 
city  or  state,  and  different  methods  have  been  employed  in  different 
countries  for  the  elimination  of  the  political  element  from  pub- 
lic service.  Those  who  have  faith  in  the  intelligence  and  capacity 
of  the  people  have  confidence  that  they  will  be  able  to  reduce  to  a 
minimum  any  dangers  attendant  upon  a  course  which  they  believe 
to  be  necessary  to  their  own  welfare.  The  fact  that  after  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  of  experience  no  retrograde  movement  is  to  be 
observed  furnishes  ^ome  proof  that  the  dangers  anticipated  have  not 
been  shown  to  be  insurmountable. 


WORLD    PROBLEMS  481 

Another  world  problem  i.s  to  be  found  in  the  effort  to  fix  woman's 
place  in  the  social  economy.  No  one  can  travel  around  the  world 
without  noting  the  wide  difference  that  exist-  between  the  treatment 
of  woman  in  different  countries.  In  the  Orient  she  has,  until  com- 
paratively recent  years,  occupied  a  very  inferior  position.  In  no 
respect  has  the  influence  of  the  west  upon  the  east  been  more  marked 
than  in  the  elevation  of  woman.  Even  in  Japan,  where  for  half  a 
centuryvthe  ideas  of  America  and  Europe  have  found  vigorous  growth, 
woman's  position  is  not  yet  equal  to  man's.  The  education  of  boy- 
received  attention  before  the  education  of  the  girls,  but  the  girls' 
schools  are  now  multiplying  in  number  and  in  attendance.  Traveling 
in  the  country  one  still  ^ees  the  blackened  teeth,  it  formerly  having 
been  regarded  as  the  proper  thing  for  a  woman  to  make  her  teeth  black 
after  marriage,  but  among  the  young  generation  the  custom  is 
unknown.  In  China  woman  has  not  only  lagged  behind  man  in  edu- 
cation, but  she  has  been  subjected  to  a  torture  known  as  foot-binding 
which  is  to  be  found  nowhere  else.  Societies  are  now  being  formed 
to  discourage  the  practice,  but  it  is  sad  to  learn  how. slowly  this  reform 
has  grown.  In  both  Japan  and  China  plural  marriage,  or  what  has 
been  equivalent  to  plural  marriage,  has  been  common.  The  man  has 
been  allowed  to  take  unto  himself  as  many  wives  as  he  could  support 
without  asking  the  consent  of  former  wives — a  practice  which  seems 
strange  to  those  who  have  been  brought  up  to  regard  the  marriage 
vows  as  mutually  binding  and  to  consider  man  and  woman  as  stand- 
ing upon  an  equal  plane  when  entering  upon  the  relation  of  husband 
and  wife. 

In  India  child  marriage  is  one  of  the  worst  customs  that  has  afflicted 
these  unhappy  people.  Girls  have  been  given  in  marriage  when  only 
nine  or  ten  years  old,  and  a  widow  of  twelve  or  thirteen  is  not  unusual. 
Remarriage  of  widows  is  not  permitted  under  Hindu  custom,  suttee, 
or  the  burning  of  the  wTidow,  formerly  being  regarded  as  the  proper 
thing.  In  both  India  and  Arabia  the  women  are  still  veiled  and 
excluded  from  the  society  of  men.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  loss 
that  has  come  to  society  from  the  failure  to  recognize  the  mutual 
stimulus  which  man  and  woman  find  in  co-operation  in  the  work 
of  civilization. 

Even  in  Europe  woman's  position  is  not  as  good  as  it  is  in  the 
United  States,  although  in  the  Christian  countries  her  rights  are  more 
respected  and  her  good  influence  more  appreciated.  Max  O'Rell,  the 
witty  French  lecturer,  used  to  say  that  if  he  was  going  to  be  born  a 
woman  he  would  pray  to  be  born  in  the  United  States.  It  was  a 
happy  expression,  for  surely  there  is  no  other  country  in  which  so 


482  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

high  an  estimate  is  placed  upon  woman  or  where  she  more  fully 
shares  in  both  the  joys  and  responsibilities  of  life.  For  the  superiority 
of  her  position  she  has  Christianity  and  education  to  thank;  Chris- 
tianity has  ever  recognized  woman's  equality  with  man  and  education 
has  fitted  her  to  be  a  real  helpmate  in  life. 

A  third  question  which  one  meets  everywhere  is  the  labor  question. 
In  Europe  it  is  a  question  between  labor  and  capital  and  the  laborer 
is  organizing  for  the  advancement  of  his  welfare.  The  guild  and  the 
labor  organization  have  long  sought  to  enlarge  the  laborer's  share  of 
the  joint  profit  of  labor  and  capital  and  to  improve  the  conditions 
which  form  his  environment.  The  efforts  of  these  societies  have 
mainly  been  directed,  first,  toward  the  improvement  of  sanitary  con- 
ditions; second,  toward  the  shortening  of  hours;  and,  third,  toward 
an  increase  in  wages.  It  looks  like  a  reflection  on  mankind  in  general 
to  say  that  laboring  men  should  have  to  ask  legislation  to  protect  their 
lives  while  at  work.  It  would  seem  that  employers  would  of  their 
own  accord  regard  the  safety  and  the  health  of  employes  as  of  para- 
mount importance,  and  yet  it  has  been  necessary  even  in  the  United 
fStates  to  compel  the  building  of  air-shafts  in  mines  and  to  force  the 
use  of  safety  appliances  on  railroads  and  street  car  lines,  and  in  the 
operation  of  machinery.  Still  more  strange  is  it  that  it  should  be 
necessary  to  fix  a  minimum  age  at  which  children  can  be  employed. 
The  very  sight  of  little  boys  and  girls  working  in  factories  at  the 
expense  of  their  physical  growth  and  their  mental  development  is  so 
revolting  that  one  can  hardly  understand  how  such  legislation  can 
be  necessary,  and  yet  throughout  Europe  and  the  United  States  labor- 
ing men  through  their  organizations  have  been  compelled  to  fight 
for  the  protection  of  the  children  of  the  poor.  In  Asia  the  inaugura- 
tion of  factories  has  not  yet  been  followed  by  the  protection  of  the 
children. 

Reforms  advance  in  groups.  It  is  seldom  that  one  real  reform  is 
achieved  alone,  so  the  limitation  of  hours  of  labor  has,,  as  a  rule, 
accompanied  legislation  for  the  protection  of  children  and  for  the 
improvement  of  sanitary  conditions  in  mines  and  workshops.  Those 
who  now  enjoy  an  eight-hour  day  can  remember  the  nine-hour  day 
and  the  ten-hour  day,  but  can  hardly  recall  the  days  of  twelve  or 
fourteen  hours.  In  the  factories  that  are  starting  up  in  the  Orient 
long  hours  are  the  rule,  and  with  long  hours  there  is  the  attendant 
degradation  of  the  toiler.  The  demand  for  the  eight-hour  day  is  an 
international  one  and  the  laboring  man  is  gradually  winning  his 
fight,  partly  by  an  appeal  to  conscience  and  partly  by  proof  that  the 
highest  efficiency  is  inconsistent  with  long  hours. 


WORLD    PROBLEMS  483 

In  the  raising  of  wages  two  factors  have  been  at  work — the  labor 
organization  and  the  higher  efficiency  that  has  come  with  more  uni- 
versal education.  The  educated  workman  can  earn  more  than  the 
ignorant  one  and  he  soon  demands  a  compensation  commensurate 
with  hk  services. 

The  labor  saving  machine,  too,  has  played  no  unimportant  part  in 
increasing  the  workman's  compensation.  It  has  raised  the  quality  of 
the  work  done  and  has  brought  into  use  a  higher  grade  of  skill  than 
was  formerly  employed.  While  the  labor  saving  machine  is  by  some 
regarded  as  antagonistic  to  the  welfare  of  the  laborer,  no  farsighted 
observer  can  fail  to  note  that  it  has  increased  rather  than  diminished 
the  number  employed  at  the  work  into  which  it  has  been  introduced, 
while  it  has  developed  a  higher  skill  which,  in  turn,  has  secured  a 
higher  compensation.  The  handling  of  a  railroad  locomotive  requires 
more  skill  than  the  handling  of  a  freight  team,  and  the  engineer  com- 
mands higher  wages  than  the  teamster.  The  railroad  by  vastly  increas- 
ing commerce  has  multiplied  the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  the 
handling  of  passengers  and  freight,  and  it  has  at  the  same  time 
improved  the  character  of  the  work  done  and  raised  the  intellectual 
standard  of  those  employed.  The  same  result  has  followed  in  other 
kinds  of  work.  It  might  be  stated  thus:  labor  saving  machinery, 
as  it  is  called — although  it  might  more  properly  be  called  labor-mul- 
tiplying machinery — has  created  a  demand  for  a  higher  grade  of 
labor;  universal  education  has  supplied  this  demand,  and  the  labor 
organization  has  secured  for  these  higher  grade  laborers  larger  com- 
pensation and  more  favorable  conditions. 

One  thought  has  grown  upon  me  as  we  have  traveled,  namely,  the 
dignity  of  labor.  In  no  other  country  is  so  high  an  estimate  placed 
upon  the  wage-earner  as  in  this  country.  In  the  Orient  there  was, 
until  the  advent  of  western  ideas,  an  impassable  gulf  between  the 
prince  and  his  people,  and  there  is  even  now  in  a  large  part  of  Asia 
a  gulf  so  wide  that  one  who  toils  with  his  hands  cannot  look  across 
it.  The  royal  families  have  lived  by  the  sword  and  they  have  forced 
from  those  beneath  them  a  tribute  sufficient  to  support  themselves 
and  their  armed  retainers.  The  masses  have  been  the  prey  of  the 
governing  classes,  no  matter  what  tribe  or  family  held  the  throne. 

In  Europe  the  extremes  of  society  have  been  brought  nearer  together, 
although  there  is  still  a  gap  between  the  aristocracy  and  the  masses. 
This  gap,  however,  is  constantly  decreasing,  education  and  popular 
government  being  the  most  influential  factors  in  bringing  about  this 
result.  With  education  now  more  and  more  within  the  reach  of  all, 
the  poor  boy  is  forcing  his  way  to  the  front  in  business,  and  with  his 


484  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

fortune  thus  acquired  he  is  leveling  rank.  In  the  political  world, 
too,  vthe  champion  of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed  is  making  his  influ- 
ence felt  and  his  political  power  is  opening  before  him  doors  which 
until  recently  were  closed.  In  France  deputies,  senators  and  even 
presidents  have  come  up  from  the  people,  and  in  England  a  labor 
leader,  John  Burns,  has  fought  his  way  into  the  cabinet.  "Who  will 
say  that  the  European  laboring  man  is  not  making  progress  when 
labor's  foremost  representative  in  Great  Britain  becomes  the  guest  of 
the  king? 

Yes,  America  leads  the  world  in  recognition  of  the  true  worth  of 
the  man  who  toils,  and  yeteven  in  America  there  is  room  for  still 
further  advancement.  Our  national  life  is  full  of  instances  of  men 
who  have  risen  from  office  boy  to  merchant  prince,  from  plowman  to 
governor,  congressman  and  senator;  we  have  had  a  rail-splitter  made 
president — and  no  president  ever  bore  himself  better  or  served  amid 
more  trying  times — while  HIK)th_er  president  could  recall  the  days 
when  he  followed  the  tcfl^Hyh  jm  a  canal.  And  yet,  with  these 
illustrious  examples  of  poyjM^  ov^come  and  great  careers  built  upon 
a  foundation  of  manual  Ifwfc*,  there  is  still  much  to  be  done  before 
the  producer  of  wealth  w^jl  receive  the  consideration  which  he 
deserves.  The  dignity  of  lafc^r  will  not  be  appreciated  as  it  ought  to 
be  until  our  young  men  ajfflf.au ght  that  it  is  more  honorable  to  con- 
tribute by  labor  to  the  ■suHgjof  the  world's  wealth  than  to  spend  in 
idleness  the  money  that  others  have  Tnade. 

Tolstoy  contends  that  p»ple  cannot  be  kept  in  sympathy  with 
(  ach  other  unless  all  perforin  some  physical  labor  throughout  their 
lives ;  he  says  that  contempt/  for  those  who  do  the  drudgery  of  life  is 
natural  if  we  put  that  druogery  upon  others  and  reserve  for  ourselves 
only  intellectual  pursuits.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  it  is  true 
that  we  cannot  view  labor  in  its  proper  relation  to  life  unless  we 
measure  life  by  a  standard  different  from  that  which  is  now  ordinarily 
applied.  So  long  as  we  measure  life  by  its  income  rather  than  by  its 
outgo,  we  shall  seek  those  occupations  which  yield  the  largest  pecun- 
iary reward;  when  we  measure  life  by  what  we  put  into  the  world 
rather  than  what  we  take  out  of  it,  we  shall  seek  those  occupations 
which  offer  the  largest  field  of  usefulness. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  that  the  world's  work  is  broacl 
enough  to  enlist  all  who  are  willing  to  work  and  that  the  variety  is 
sufficient  to  allow  each  to  follow  his  taste  and  select  his  field,  provided 
only  that  he  is  actuated  by  a  purpose  to  render  to  society  a  service 
which  will  be  more  than  an  equivalent  for  all  that  society  has  done 
for  him. 


CHAITKIt  XLVI. 


A  STUDY  OF  GOVERNMENTS. 


One  who  travels  in  foreign  lands  is  likely  to  learn  but  little  of  the 
governments  of  the  lands  through  which  he  passes,  unless  he  makes 
a  special  effort  to  inform  himself,  for  the  lines  of  travel  are  laid 
through  the  communities  where  law  and  order  are  maintained  and 
where  the  government  is  so  stable  that  the  casual  observer  has  no 
occasion  to  investigate  its  inner  workings.  The  mountains  tower 
above  him,  and  he  sees  them;  the  chasms  yawn  before  him  and 
he  beholds  them;  and  the  various  forms  of  agriculture  leave 
a  panoramic  "effect  upon  his  memory.  He  frequently  meets  the  mer- 
chant in  his  store,  sees  the  laborer  at  his  work  quite  often,  and  occa- 
sionally beholds  a  grandee  in  his  carriage;  but  not  being  able  to  speak 
the  language  of  the  country  he  learns  little  about  the  forms  of  govern- 
ment and  less  about  the  political  aspirations  of  the  people;  and- yet  the 
science  of  government  is  one  of  the  most  important  sciences,  and  the 
"royal  art,"  as  it  has  been  called,  stands  first  among  the  arts.  Tolstoy 
has  declared  that  the  science  which  teaches  us  how  to  live  is  the  most 
important  of  sciences,  and  surely  the  science  of  government  comes 
next.  While  it  is  true  that  an  individual  can  by  misbehavior  forfeit 
the  blessings  of  good  government,  or  by  good  behavior  minimize  the 
evils  of  bad  government — while  it  is  true  that  no  government,  however 
good,  can  save  a  man  from  himself  if  he  is  determined  to  throw  him- 
self away,  and  that  no  government,  however  bad,  can  entirely  deprive 
him  of  the  rewards  of  virtue,  yet  governments  may  do  much  to  encour- 
age or  to  hinder  the  development  of  the  people. 

Governments  may  retard  or  advance  the  material  growth  of  a  coun- 
try. For  instance,  our  government  is  in  part,  at  least,  responsible  for 
the  unparalleled  development  of  the  United  States,  because  it  has 
given  the  largest  encouragement  to  the  individual.  The  Japanese 
government  has  in  like  manner  stimulated  education  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  public  school  system  and  has  developed  a  large  number 

485 


486  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

of  public  men  by  the  organization  of  a  parliamentary  system.  Tur- 
key, on  the  other  hand,  has  blighted  some  of  the  fairest  portions  of 
the  earth  by  suppressing  political  independence,  by  ignoring  educa- 
tion, and  by  leaving  the  industrious  citizen  at  the  mercy  of  the 
marauder.  There  has  been  little  political  life  in  Turkey  because  few 
of  the  people  have  had  the  education  necessary  to  take  a  broad  survey 
of  the  country  and  its  needs,  while  great  stretches  of  fertile  country  lie 
uncultivated  because  the  government  is  so  indifferent  to  the  rights  of 
the  people  that  the  tiller  of  the  soil  has  no  assurance  that  he  will  be 
allowed  to  harvest  the  crop  which  he  plants.  Those  who  have  investi- 
gated the  subject  contend  that  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  would  be  a 
fruitful  region  if  protection  were  given  to  those  who  would  cultivate 
it,  but  because  the  Bedouin  has  been  allowed  to  come  down  from  the 
hillside  and  reap  where  he  has  not  sown,  the  land  is  neglected. 
,  In  a  trip  around  the  globe  one  sees  in  actual  working  every  form 
of  government  known  to  man.  In  Russia,  an  unlimited  monarchy 
until  recently  laid  its  oppressive  hand  upon  more  than  a  hundred 
millions  of  human  beings.  They  held  their  lives,  their  liberty  and 
their  property  at  the  will  of  the  ruler.  Any  citizen  in  the  czar's  vast 
domains  could  be  taken  from  his  home  and  exiled  for  life  without  his 
or  his  family  knowing  the  cause  of  his  punishment.  The  royal  fam- 
ily and  the  officeholders  held  the  people  in  contempt  and  denied  even 
the  natural  rights  of  men.  The  people  were  taught  to  be  thankful 
for  any  favors,  however  small,  that  the  "Little  Father"  saw  fit  to 
bestow,  and  they  were  likewise  taught  that  it  was  dangerous  to  com- 
plain even  when  the  most  fundamental  right  was  ignored.  Now  there 
is  a  duma,  and  the  duma  as  an  institution  still  lives.  No  one  can 
predict  through  what  trials  and  tribulations  the  country  may  yet  pass, 
but  constitutional  government  will  yet  be  hers.  As  in  the  winter  time 
we  cannot  foresee  or  foretell  what  days  will  be  pleasant  and  what  days 
stormy,  but  do  know  that  in  a  few  months  we  shall  have  summer,  so 
without  being  able  to  determine  through  what  tumults  or  riots  or 
revolutions  Russia  must  pass,  we  know  that  in  a  few  years  she  will 
have  a  stable  government  in  which  her  people  will  have  a,  voice. 

In  Japan  the  government  is  somewhat  mixed  in  its  form.  She  has 
a  parliament,  but  the  executive  branch  of  the  government  is  not  yet 
in  the  hands  of  the  people.  The  tendency  in  Japan,  as  everywhere,  is 
toward  further  limitation  of  the  power  of  the  sovereign  and  further  en- 
largement of  the  power  of  the  people.  The  vital  political  question  there 
now  i-  whether  the  emperor  shall  select  his  advisers  from  among  his  per- 
sonal friends  or  from  the  members  of  the  party  which  dominates  the 
parliament.    There  is,  of  course,  no  doubt  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of 


A   .STUDY    OF    GOVERNMENTS  487 

the  parliamentary  party.   Denmark  witnessed  a  similar  struggle  which 

lasted  for  nearly  a  generation  and  terminated,  as  such  struggles  always 
do,  in  the  triumph  of  the  parliament. 

In  China  they  have  a  mixture  of  monarchy  and  aristocracy.  The 
monarch  is  unlimited  in  his  power,  but  he  is  so  hedged  about  by  the 
aristocracy  that  he  really  has  very  little  independence.  Like  some 
of  the  native  princes  who  rule  under  Dutch  regents,  the  Chinese  ruler 
is  the  servant  rather  than  the  master  of  his  officials.  Living  in  the 
forbidden  city  and  meeting  personally  but  few  of  his  people,  he  is 
quite  dependent  upon  the  mandarins.  The  aristocracy  of  China  is  not 
an  aristocracy  of  birth  or  of  wealth,  but  a  civil  service  aristocracy. 
While  positions  are  often  bought — sometimes  even  sold  at  auction 
when  the  emperor  needs  money — yet,  as  a  rule,  the  civil  servants  of 
China  are  selected  by  examination.  These  systems,  while  so  anti- 
quated that  they  have  been  recently  very  materially  modified,  were 
intended  to  be  fair  as  between  applicants.  The  course  of  study  was 
not  comprehensive,  and  the  tests  applied  gave  but  little  idea  of  one's 
fitness  for  office.  These  men,  once  in  power,  were  the  rulers  in  all 
local  affairs,  and  the  higher  officials  were  influential  in  all  matters 
of  state,  and  Vet,  in  spite  of  this  system — or  because  of  it,  whichever 
the  reader  will  have  it — China  slumbered  while  the  nations  around 
awakened.  The  fact  that  the  appointees  to  the  civil  service  had  to  go 
through  certain  routine  examinations  prescribed  by  those  who  had 
already  passed  through  the  same  routine,  kept  the  service  in  a  rut,  and 
as  it  was  not  necessary  that  the  appointees  should  be  interested  in 
anyone  but  themselves,  they  showed  no  concern  about  the  people 
from  whom  they  drew  their  salaries.  It  was  a  system  calculated  to 
develop  the  selfishness  which  seemed  an  inherent  part  of  Chinese  life 
and  philosophy.  Now  that  the  school  examinations  have  been  sub- 
stituted for  the  civil  service  examinations  an  improvement  may  be 
expected  in  the  service,  but  even  the  modified  system  will  not  keep 
the  servant  in  touch  with  those  whom  he  ser^s. 

In  Europe  the  constitutional  monarchy  has  undergone  a  constant 
development  until  in  many  countries  the  king  is  but  a  figurehead. 
In  England  the  sovereign  would  not  think  of  vetoing  a  bill  passed  by 
the  legislative  body,  and  the  House  of  Lords  seldom  vetoes  a  bill 
passed  by  the  House  of  Commons.  The  prime  minister  is  a  much 
more  potent  factor  in  government  than  the  king  himself.  In  Norway 
the  government  is  brought  even  nearer  to  the  people  by  the  substitu- 
tion of  one  legislative  body  for  two,  that  body  being  elected  by  the 
people  under  universal  suffrage.  The  king  of  Norway  is  even  less 
likely  to  attempt  to  obstruct  the  will  of  parliament  than  the  king  of 


488  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

England.     Norway  has  reduced  monarchy  to  a  minimum  and  placed 
the  government  in  the  hands  of  the  voters  to  do  with  it  as  they  please. 

In  Switzerland  the  republican  form  of  government  has  stood  the 
test  of  experiment.  In  the  absence  of  pomp,  ceremony  and  official 
extravagance  the  government  of  Switzerland  is  not  surpassed,  if 
equaled,  by  the  government  of  any  similar  population  in  the  world. 
Three  languages  are  spoken  within  her  borders  and  used  in  parlia- 
mentary proceedings.  Part  of  her  people  are  Protestant,  part  Catho- 
lic and  part  Jew,  and  yet,  with  the  initiative  and  the  referendum  in 
both  the  federal  government  and  the  cantons,  the  government  rests  so 
securely  upon  popular  will  that  the  people  live  together  in  entire 
harmony  and  could  resist  a  much  larger  .population  attacking  from 
without. 

The  colonial  system  also  comes  under  one's  observation  in  a  trip 
around  the  world.  The  Netherlands  have  large  colonial  possessions 
in  the  Malay  archipelago,  but  they  have  been  compelled  to  abandon 
the  culture  system — a  form  of  slavery — and  there  are  signs  of  a  politi- 
cal development  which  will  some  day  make  it  necessary  for  Holland 
to  consult  the  wishes  of  the  people  more  than  she  has  in  the  past. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  both  India  and  Egypt  in  other  articles, 
and  I  only  refer  to  the  subject  here  in  order  to  draw  a  contrast  between 
colonialism  as  applied  to  Canada  and  colonialism  as  it  is  seen  in  India. 
In  Canada  the  people  have  as  complete  self-government  as  they  have 
in  England,  the  governor-general  being  as  little  likely  to  use  the  veto 
power  as  the  king  himself.  In  India,  on  the  other  hand,  the  natives 
are  not  consulted  in  regard  to  the  general  government.  Taxes  are 
levied  and  collected,  armies  are  raised,  fed  and  directed  without  regard 
to  the  wishes  of  the  native  population.  They  have  experienced  all 
of  the  evils  that  can  come  from  a  colonial  system  administered  by  a 
trading  company,  and  they  have  had  a  chance  to  learn  that  a  colonial 
system,  even  when  administered  in  such  a  way  as  to  command  the 
admiration  of  those  who  believe  in  colonialism,  still  falls  far  short 
of  self-government.  I  have  already  said  that  we  have  treated  the 
Filipinos  better  than  England  has  treated  the  people  of  India,  but 
that  we  have  done  so  at  an  enormous  expense  to  our  country.  It 
would  be  better  for  the  Filipinos  and  better  for  us  to  recognize  their 
right  to  self-government  and  independence. 

After  one  has  had  a  chance  to  see  monarchies,  limited  and  unlim- 
ited, aristocracies  based  upon  birth  and  aristocracies  based  upon  a 
merit  system ;  and  after  one  has  had  a  chance  to  compare  these  sys- 
tems with  the  republican  form  of  government,  he  is  ready  to  declare 
that  from  every  standpoint  that  government  is  best  which  rests  upon 


A    STUDY    OF    GOVERNMENTS  489 

the  consent  of  the  governed.  Some  have  insisted  that  a  monarchy 
is  stronger  because  all  of  the  power  of  the  government  can  be  concen- 
trated quickly  and  made  effective  at  once,  but  this  advantage  is  small 
when  compared  with  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  government 
which  the  people  support  with  enthusiasm.  The  historian,  Bancroft, 
rightly  declares  that  a  republic  ought  to  be  the  strongest  of  all  gov- 
ernments because,  "discarding  the  implements  of  terror,  it  dares  to 
build  its  citadel  in  the  hearts  of  men." 

A  republic  which  is,  not  merely  in  theory  but  in  fact,  "a  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people,"  is  the  most  enduring 
of  governments.  It  is  strong  because  it  is  loved  and  loved  because 
it  is  good. 

Aristocracies  are  defended  by  their  advocates  on  the  ground  that 
a  few  are  wiser  than  the  many,  but  this  is  not  true,  whether  it  is  an 
aristocracy  of  birth  or  of  learning,  for  as  the  whole  ls  greater  than 
any  of  its  parts,  so  a  democracy  must  be  wiser  than  an  aristocracy 
because  it  can  draw  upon  the  wisdom  of  all.  The  old  saying,  that 
"everybody  knows  more  than  anybody,"  is  founded  upon  reason  and 
experience,  but  there  is  another  reason  why  a  democracy  is  better 
than  an  aristocracy,  namely,  that  the  interests  of  the  whole  people 
are  safer  in  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves  than  in  the  hands  of 
any  element  which  assumes  to  speak  for  the  people.  The  faults  of 
free  government  have  been  found  to  be,  not  in  the  people  themselves, 
but  in  those  who,  selected  to  represent  them,  betray  their  trust.  If 
the  representatives  of  the  people  whom  the  people  themselves  select 
are  sometimes  unfaithful  to  their  trust,  what  must  be  expected  of 
those  who  assume  to  act  without  being  selected  by  the  people? 

In  aristocracies  resting  upon  birth  the  very  fact  that  the  rulers 
regard  themselves  as  superior  to  the  masses  makes  it  difficult  for  them 
to  view  questions  from  the  standpoint  of  the  people  at  large.  What- 
ever the  form  of  the  government,  there  will  always  be,  as  Jefferson 
declared,  two  parties,  one  tending  toward  democracy  and  the  other 
tending  toward  aristocracy.  Those  who  have  faith  in  the  people  are 
constantly  trying  to  make  the  government  more  and  more  responsive 
to  the  will  of  the  people ;  those  who  distrust  the  people  are  constantly 
endeavoring  to  increase  the  distance  between  the  citizen  and  his  rep- 
resentative. In  a  republic  there  are  some  who  emphasize  the  virtues 
of  the  people  and  others  who  emphasize  the  virtues  of  the  represen- 
tative. Some  insist  that  the  people  should  think  for  themselves  and 
elect  representatives  to  give  expression  to  the  public  will;  others  insist 
that  the  representatives  should  be  so  superior  to  the  masses  as  to  be 
able  to  do  the  thinking  for  the  people. 


490  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

In  the  earlv  history  of  this  country  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Alexander 
Hamilton  represented  these  two  ideas.  Jefferson  not  only  believed 
that  the  people  should  think  for  themselves  and  should  elect  their 
representatives,  but  he  believed  in  short  terms  and  frequent  elections 
in  order  that  the  citizens  might  more  effectively  control  their  public 
servants.  Hamilton,  on  the  other  hand,  believed  in  a  strong  central- 
ized government  in  which  the  officials  should  be  removed  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  voter.  His  plan  of  government,  carefully  prepared 
and  presented  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  constitution,  pro- 
vided for  a  president  and  senators  elected  for  life  or  during  good 
behavior,  and  for  governors  of  the  several  states  appointed  by  the 
general  government  for  life  or  during  good  behavior.  No  one  would 
propose  such  a  plan  at  this  time,  so  great  has  been  the  advance  toward 
democracy.  This  growth  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  national 
house  of  representatives  has  four  times  declared  in  favor  of  the  election 
of  the  United  States  senators  by  direct  vote  of  the  people  and  by  the 
further  fact  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  states  of  the  union  have 
by  legislative  action  declared  in  favor  of  this  change.  The  unpopular- 
ity of  the  latter  part  of  Hamilton's  plan,  namely,  the  appointment  of 
governors  by  the  general  government,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  terri- 
torial government  under  which  the  governors  are  appointed  by  the 
president,  not  for  life,  but  for  a  few  years,  is  deemed  unsatisfactory. 
The  people  of  a  territory  are  always  wanting  statehood,  and  the  main 
reason  is  that  they  desire  to  elect  their  own  officials. 

The  democratic  idea  is  growing — the  term  is  not  used  in  a  parti- 
san sense,  but  in  that  broader  sense  in  which  it  describes  government 
by  the  people.  There  is  not  a  civilized  nation  in  which  the  idea  of 
popular  government  is  not  growing,  and  in  all  the  semi-civilized 
nations  there  are  reformers  who  are  urging  an  extension  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  people  in  government.  So  universal  is  this  growth 
of  democratic  ideas  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  final 
triumph.  Monarchies,  at  first  unlimited,  are  now  limited,  and 
limited  monarchies  are  recognizing  more  and  more  the  right  of 
the  people  to  a  voice  in  their  own  government,  Monarchies  and 
aristocracies  tend  toward  democracy,  and  republics  tend  to  become 
more  and  more  democratic  in  their  forms  and  methods. 

When  the  seed,  planted  in  the  earth,  sends  forth  the  tender  leaf  and 
then  the  stalk;  when  the  grain  appears  upon  the  stalk  and  supplies 
the  bread  necessary  for  the  support  of  our  bodies,  we  know  that  there 
is  back  of  the  seed  a  force  irresistible  and  constantly  working.  As 
irresistible  and  as  ceaseless  in  its  activity  is  the  force  behind  political 
and  moral  truth.     The  advocates  of  the  American  theory  of  govern- 


A   STUDY    OF    GOVERNMENTS  491 

ment  can,  therefore,  labor  with  the  confident  assurance  that  the 
principles  planted  upon  American  soil  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago 
are  destined  to  grow  here  and  everywhere  until  arbitrary  power  will 
nowhere  be  known,  and,  until  the  voice  of  the  people  shall  be  recog- 
nized, if  not  as  the  voice  of  God,  at  least,  as  Bancroft  defines  it,  as  the 
best  expression  of  the  divine  will  to  be  found  upon  the  earth. 

In  republics,  as  in  other  forms  of  government,  there  will  at  times 
be  disturbances,  but  these  come  from  a  failure  to  recognize  and  respect 
the  current  of  public  opinion.  If  we  stand  by  the  side  of  a  stream 
and  watch  it  glide  past  us,  we  can  in  safety  listen  to  the  song  of  the 
waters,  but  if  we  attempt  to  dam  the  stream  we  find  the  water  rising 
above  the  dam.  If  we  make  the  dam  higher  still,  the  water  rises  still 
more,  and  at  last  the  force  in  the  obstructed  water  is  so  great  that 
no  dam  made  by  human  hands  can  longer  stay  it.  Sometimes,  when 
the  dam  is  washed  away,  damage  is  done  to  those  who  live  in  the 
valley  below,  but  the  fault  is  not  in  the  stream,  but  in  those  who 
attempt  to  obstruct  it.  So  in  human  society  there  is  a  current  of 
public  opinion  which  flows  ever  onward.  If  left  to  have  its  way  it 
does  not  harm,  anyone,  but  if  obstructed,  this  current  may  become  a 
menace.  At  last  the  obstruction  must  yield  to  the  force  of  the  current. 
In  monarchies  and  aristocracies  the  dam  is  sometimes  built  so  high 
that  it  is  removed  by  force,  but  in  republics  the  ballot  can  be  relied 
upon  to  keep  the  channel  of  the  stream  open,  or  if  obstruction  is 
attempted,  to  remove  it  while  yet  it  can  be  removed  with  safety.  The 
advantage  of  a  republic  is  that  the  people,  through  their  representa- 
tives, are  able  to  give  public  opinion  free  play,  and  the  more  demo- 
cratic a  republic  is,  the  more  nearly  does  it  conform  to  the  wishes  of 
the  people. 

No  one  can  study  the  governments  of  the  old  world  without  a  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  that  in  the  new  world  the  science  of  government  has 
been  carried  to  its  highest  point,  and  we  of  the  United  States  can 
rejoice  that  our  nation  leads  the  world  in  recognizing  the  right  of  the 
people  to  devise  and  to  direct  the  government  under  which  they  are 
to  work  out  their  destiny. 


CHAPTER   XLVII. 

THE  TARIFF  DEBATE  IN  ENGLAND* 

An  American  feels  at  home  in  England  just  now,  for  he  constantly 
reads  in  the  newspapers  and  hears  on  the  streets  the  tariff  arguments 
so  familiar  in  the  United  States.  I  can  almost  imagine  myself  in  the 
midst  of  a  presidential  campaign,  with  import  duties  as  the  only  issue. 
I  have  been  especially  fortunate  in  arriving  here  at  the  very  height 
of  the  discussion  and  I  have  been  privileged  to  hear  the  best  speakers 
on  both  sides.  Hon.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  late  secretary  for  the  colo- 
nies, left  the  cabinet  some  three  months  ago  in  order  to  present  to 
the  country  the  tariff  policy  which  he  believed  to  be  necessary.  Not 
desiring  to  make  the  government  responsible  for  the  proposition  put 
forth  by  him,  he  turned  his  official  duties  over  to  another  and  has 
been  conducting  one  of  the  most  remarkable  campaigns  that  England 
has  seen  in  recent  years. 

He  enters  the  fight  with  a  number  of  things  to  his  credit.  He  is  a 
great  orator,  he  is  pleasing  in  manner,  experienced  in  debate,  skill- 
ful in  the  arraignment  of  his  adversaries,  and  possesses  the  faculty 
of  so  holding  the  attention  of  his  hearers  as  to  make  them  eager  to 
catch  the  next  sentence.  He  is  not  an  impassioned  speaker,  he  has 
no  grand  climaxes  that  overwhelm  an  audience,  but  he  does  have 
what  his  friends  call  a  "restrained  eloquence"  that  leaves  the  impres- 
sion that  he  never  quite  reaches  the  limit  of  his  powers.  He  is  a 
man  who  would  rank  high  in  any  land  and  'as  an  antagonist  he  would 
not  fear  to  meet  the  best  on  any  platform. 

He  is  about  five  feet  nine  or  ten  inches  in  height  and  weighs  about 
175  pounds.  He  wears  no  beard  and  is  impressive  in  appearance. 
The  cartoonists  take  liberties  with  him  as  with  other  public  men,  and 
I  may  say  in  passing  that  there  are  some  newspaper  cartoonists  over 
here  who  do  excellent  work. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  is  urging  a  departure  from  the  free  trade  policy 
which  England  has  followed  for  fifty  years,  and  he  defends  his  posi- 
tion on  three  grounds: 


♦The  following'  European  letters  were  written  for  the  Hearst  newspapers,  and 
are  reproduced  by  their  permission. 

492 


THE    TARIFF    DEBATE    IN    ENGLAND 


493 


First — That  it  is  needed  for  the  protection  of  English  manufac- 
turers and  English  laborers. 

Second — That  it  is  necessary  for  the  defense  and  strengthening  of 
the  empire. 

Third — That  a  tariff  can  be  used  when  necessary  as  a  retaliatory 
weapon  to  make  a  breach  in  the  tariff  walls  that  other  nations  have 
erected. 


JOSEPH   CHAMBERLAIN. 
DUKE  OF  DEVONSHIRE. 


HENRY  ASQUITII. 
LORD  ROSEBERY. 


In  presenting  the  first  proposition  he  employs  the  usual  protection- 
ist arguments.  He  appeals  to  particular  industries  'and  promises  better 
wages  to  labor  and  more  constant  employment.  He  complains  that 
foreign  products  are  being  "dumped"  in  England.  The  foreigner  is 
accused  of  selling  his  surplus  wares  here  without  profit  or  below  cost 
while  he  sells  for  enough  at  home  to  enable  him  to  carry  on  his 
business. 


494  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

I  heard  Mr.  Chamberlain's  speech  at  Cardiff,  the  chief  city  of 
Wales.  It  was  an  audience  largely  made  up  of  wage-earners,  and  his 
appeals  were  adroit  and  elicited  an  enthusiastic  response.  '  He  dwelt 
at  length  on  the  tin  industry ;  figured  the  growth  of  the  industry  from 
1882  to  1892  and  showed  that  during  the  next  decade  the  tin  industry 
had  suffered  by  the  establishment  of  tin  plate  mills  in  the  United 
States. 

He  assumed  that  if  the  English  government  had  been  authorized 
to  make  reciprocal  treaties  it  might  have  persuaded  the  United  States 
to  forego  the  protection  of  tin  plate  in  exchange  for  trade  advantages 
in  some  other  direction.  He  estimated  the  loss  that  had  come  to 
Welsh  workmen  because  of  the  lessened  demand  for  their  tin  plate, 
and  he  contended  that  it  was  necessary  to  give  preferential  treatment 
to  the  colonies  in  order  to  increase  or  even  to  hold  their  attachment 
to  the  empire. 

In  discussing  retaliation,  he  seemed  to  assume  what  the  protection- 
ists of  the  United  States  have  often  declared,  namely,  that  the  for- 
eigner pays  the  tax;  and  his  argument  was  that  England  ought  to 
tax  the  goods  coming  in  from  other  countries  if  other  countries  taxed 
goods  imported  from  England.  He  has  coined  phrases  that  are  going 
the  rounds  of  the  press,  the  most  popular  of  which  is  embodied  in  the 
question,  "If  another  nation  strikes  you  with  a  tariff  tax,  are  you 
going  to  take  it  lying  down?"  This  phrase  aroused  a  spirit  of  pug- 
nacity at  Cardiff  and  was  enthusiastically  applauded. 

In  presenting  the  claims  of  the  empire,  Mr.  Chamberlain  occupies 
much  the  same  position  as  the  American  protectionist  who  contends 
that  a  tariff  wall  makes  our  own  country  independent  of  other  nations. 
In  presenting  this  argument  the  late  colonial  secretary  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  great  popularity  which  he  won  during  the  South  Af- 
rican war,  the  spirit  of  empire  being  just  now  quite  strong  in  Eng- 
land. 

So  much  for  the  leader  of  the  tariff  reform  movement,  for,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  the  English  crusade  for  the  adoption  of  a  tariff  is  be- 
ing conducted  through  the  Tariff  Reform  League,  which,  with  Mr. 
Chamberlain's  endorsement,  is  asking  for  a  campaign  fund  of 
$500,000. 

On  the  other  side  are,  first,  the  conservatism  that  supports  the- set- 
tled policy  of  half  a  'century ;  second,  the  political  and  economic  ar- 
guments which  weigh  against  a  protective  tariff,  and,  third,  the 
ability  and  personal  influence  of  the  men  who  are  arrayed  against 
Mr.  Chamberlain.  I  have  attended  a  number  of  meetings  of  the  oppo- 
sition.    The  first  was  at  St.  Neots,  Huntingtonshire,  where  I  heard 


THE    TARIFF    DEBATE    IN    ENGLAND  495 

Mr.  H.  H.  Asquith,  one  of  the  Liberal  leader-  in  parliament,  lie  is 
of  about  the  same  height  as  Mr.  Chamberlain,  but  heavier,  his  face 

and  shoulders  being  considerably  broader.  Mr.  Asquith  differs  very 
materially  from  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  his  style  of  oratory,  but  is  a 
master  in  his  line.  His  is  more  the  argument  of  the  lawyer.  He  is 
more  logical  and  a  closer  reasoner.  He  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
ablest  public  men  in  England,  and  after  listening  to  him  for  an  hour 
I  could  easily  believe  his  reputation  to  be  well  earned. 

While  he  discussed  with  thoroughness  all  phases  of  the  fiscal  ques- 
tion, I  was  most  impressed  with  his  reply  to  what  may  be  called  the 
imperial  part  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  argument.  He  insisted  that  pref- 
erential duties  would  weaken  instead  of  strengthen  the  bonds  that 
unite  England  to  her  colonies,  because  partiality  could  not  be  shown 
to  one  industry  without  discrimination  against  the  other  industries, 
and  he  wrarned  the  advocates  of  protection  not  to  divide  the  people 
of  the  colonies  and  the  people  of  the  home  country  into  warring  fac- 
tions, and  suggested  that  when  these  factions  were  arrayed  against 
each  other  in  a  contest  for  legislative  advantage,  the  harmony  of  the 
nation  would  be  disturbed  and  ill-will  between  the  various  sections, 
elements  and  industries  engendered. 

At  a  bouse  dinner  of  the  National  Liberal  club  in  London  I  heard 
another  member  of  parliament,  Mr.  R.  S.  Robson,  a  Liberal,  who 
took  retaliation  for  his  subject.  Mr.  Robson  presented  a  clear,  com- 
prehensive and  concise  analysis  of  the  policy  of  retaliation  ;  the  strong- 
est points  made  by  him  being,  first,  that  retaliation  meant  commer- 
cial war,  and,  second,  that  it  contemplated  a  permanent  policy  of 
protection.  He  pointed  out  that  no  country  had  ever  aimed  a  retalia- 
tory tariff  at  England;  that  tariffs  in  other  countries  were  laid  for 
domestic  purposes  and  not  out  of  antagonism  to  another  country.  He 
contended  that  other  countries,  instead  of  modifying  their  tariffs  be- 
cause of  attempted  retaliation  on  the  part  of  England,  would  be  more 
likely  excited  to  an  unfriendliness  which  they  had  not  before  shown, 
and  that  if  England  were  the  aggressor  in  such  a  tariff  war  she  must 
necessarily  be  a  large  loser.  He  said  that  it  was  impossible  to  con- 
ceive of  concessions  being  secured  by  a  threat  to  raise  a  tariff  wall  in 
England.  It  would  be  necessary,  he  contended,  if  a  retaliatory  pol- 
icy was  undertaken  to  first  impose  a  high  tariff  all  around  and  then 
offer  to  reduce  it  in  special  cases.  This  would  be  a  radical  departure 
from  the  policy  of  free  trade  and  would  bring  with  it  all  the  evils  that 
had  led  to  the  abandonment  of  a  protective  policy  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Cobden. 


496  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

Besides  the  Liberal  opposition,  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  to  meet  the 
antagonism  of  a  number  of  influential  leaders  who  would  indorse  Mr. 
Balfour  if  he  only  proposed  retaliation  in  a  particular  case  where  an 
open  and  grievous  blow  had  been  struck  at  England,  but  who  are  not 
willing  bo  join  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  advocating  a  return  to  a  protective 
policy. 

I  attended  a  great  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Free  Food 
League  and  heard  speeches  delivered  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  and 
Lord  Goshen.  I  was  told  that  the  duke  was  the  only  English  states- 
man who  ever  took  a  nap  during  the  progress  of  his  own  speech.  Thus 
forewarned,  I  was  prepared  for  a  season  of  rest,  but  the  duke  sur- 
prised  his  friends  (and  they  are  many)  on  this  occasion  and  his 
speech  has  been  the  talk  of  the  country.  It  was  a  powerful  arraign- 
ment of  the  proposed  tax  on  food,  and,  taking  into  consideration  the 
high  standing  and  great  prestige  of  the  duke,  will  exert  a  wide- 
spread influence  on  the  decision  of  the  controversy.  The  duke  is  a 
tall,  strongly  built  man,  with  a  long  head  and  full  sandy  beard 
sprinkled  with  gray.  He  speaks  with  deliberation  and  emphasis,  but 
lacks  the  graces  of  the  other  orators  whom  I  had  an  opportunity  to 
hear.  If,  however,  ease  and  grace  were  wanting,  the  tremendous  ef- 
fectiveness of  the  pile  'driver  and  the  battering  ram  make  up  for  them. 

He  denounced  the  proposition  to  put  a  tax  upon  the  people's  food 
as  a  blow  to  the  welfare  and  greatness  of  the  nation.  He  scouted  the 
idea  that  the  tax  would  not  ultimately  extend  to  all  food  -or  that  it 
would  not  raise  the  price  of  food  and  showed  that  the  increase  in  the 
cost  of  food  and  clothing  would  take  from  the  laboring  man  any  ad- 
vantage which  Mr.  Chamberlain  promised  to  bring  by  his  protective 
policy. 

At  the  Free  Food  meeting  the  duke  was  followed  by  Lord  Goshen, 
a  conspicuous  leader  of  the  unionist  party.  Though  now  about  sev- 
enty years  old,  he  possesses  great  vitality  and  entered  into  the  discus- 
sion with  an  earnestness  that  bespeaks  the  extraordinary  power  of  the 
man.  In  appearance  he  reminded  me  of  Gladstone  and  of  Paul  Kru- 
ger.  I  should  say  that  his  face  had  some  of  the  characteristics  of  both 
— rugged  in  its  outlines  and  giving  an  impression  of  courage  and 
strength  combined  with  great  intellect.  He  replied  to  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain's challenge,  "Will  you  take  it  lying  down?"  with  the  question, 
"Will  you  hide  behind  a  wall?"  He  denied  that  it  was  necessary 
for  the  Briton  to  build  a  barricade  and  conceal  himself  behind  it. 

In  reply  to  the  argument  that  the  Englishman  needed  protection 
from  the  foreigner,  he  gave  statistics  to  show  that  Germany,  one  of 
the  protected  countries  to  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  constantly  refers, 


THE     TARIFF     DEBATE     IN     ENGLAND  497 

had  an  increasing  number  of  the  unemployed.  Ills  reference  to  the 
increased  consumption  of  horse  meat  in  Germany  and  the  decrease 
in  the  consumption  of  oilier  kind-  of  meal  met  with  a  response  that 
seems  likely  to  make  "No  horse  meat*'  a  slogan   in  the  campaign. 

The  last  meeting  which  L  attended  was  thai  at  which  Lord  Rosebery 
made  his  reply  to  Mr.  Chamberlain.  Lord  Rosebery  meets  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain on  an  equal  footing.  He  is  about  the  same  height,  bul  a 
trifle  stouter.  He  is  an  orator  of  great  distinction,  graceful,  'polished. 
of  wide  learning  and  great  experience,  and  he  possesses  a  wit  that 
enables  him  to  keep  his  audience  in  constant  good  humor.  He  has 
been  prime  minister  and  enjoys  great  popularity.  Tlis  reception  at 
the  Surrey  theatre,  South  London,  was  as  cordial  as  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain's reception  at  Cardiff.  With  all  the  arts  of  the  orator  he  repelled 
the  attacks  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  arraigned  the  policy  of 'the  con- 
servatives. He  'denied  that  there  was  any  excuse,  to  use  his  word-, 
for  the  "lamentations  of  the  modern  Jeremiah."  His  lordship  de- 
clared that  the  country  had  made  great  progress  under  the  policy  of 
free  commerce  with  the  world  and  that  England  had  the  world  for 
her  granary  and  depicted  the  possible  consequences  if  she  attempted 
to  wage  war  against  those  who  furnished  her  bread  and  meat. 

He  declared  that  the  colonies  'could  not  supply  the  food  that  the 
people  of  England  needed,  but  called  Mr.  Chamberlain's  attention 
to  the  fact  that  Canada  was  "dumping"  more  iron  into  England  than 
any  of  the  protected  countries  complained  of.  He  arraigned  the  con- 
servative government's  large  and  increasing  expenditures  and  sug- 
gested that  the  government  might  better  lessen  the  taxes  upon  the 
people  than  impose  new  taxes  upon  their  food  and   clothing. 

He  closed  with  an  appeal  for  more  technical  instruction ;  for  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  the  needs  of  their  customers,  and  for  a  more 
earnest  effort  for  the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  advancement 
of  the  people. 

T  will  not  attempt  to  predict  the  outcome  of  this  fiscal  controversy. 
T  have  missed  my  guess  on  a  similar  controversy  in  the  United  States 
and  T  shall  not  venture  a  prophecy  in  a  foreign  land.  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain's opponents  believe  that  a  return  to  protection  would  bo  taken 
as  renunciation  of  England's  ambition  to  be  "mistress  of  the  seas," 
and  that  it  wrould  presage  commercial  isolation.  It  is  a  battle  of 
giants  over  a  great  question  and  all  the  world  is  interested  in  the 
result. 


Note — Since  the  writing  of  the  above  the  Liberal  party  lias  won  an  overwhelm- 
ing victory  and  Chamberlain's  policy  has  been  overthrown. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 


IRELAND  AND  HER  LEADERS. 

November  29th  was  spent  in  Dublin,  the  30th  at  Belfast  and  en  route 
to  that  city  from  Dublin.  Dublin  is  a  very  substantial  looking  city  and 
much  more  ancient  in  appearance  than  Belfast,  the  latter  reminding 
one  more  of  an  enterprising  American  city.  "We  did  not  have  a  chance 
to  visit  any  of  the  industries  of  Dublin,  and  only  a  linen  factory  and 
a  shipyard  in  Belfast,  but  as  the  linen  factory,  the  York  Street  Linen 
Mills,  was  one  of  the  largest  in  Ireland,  and  the  shipyard,  Harland 
&  Wolff's,  the  largest  in  the  world,  they  gave  some  idea  of  the  indus- 
trial possibilities  of  the  island. 

The  lord  mayor  of  Belfast,  Sir  Daniel  Dixon,  gave  us  a  history  of 
the  municipal  undertakings  and  extended  to  us  every  possible  courtesy. 
To  one  accustomed  to  the  farms  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri 
valleys,  the  little  farms  of  Ireland  seem  contracted  indeed,  but  what 
they  lack  in  size  they  make  up  in  thoroughness  of  cultivation.  Not 
a  foot  seemed  to  be  wasted.  At  Birmingham  I  saw  some  Kerry  cows, 
which  I  can  best  describe  as  pony  cattle,  that  they  told  me  were  being 
bred  in  Ireland  in  preference  to  the  larger  breeds;  they  are  certainly 
more  in  keeping  with  the  size  of  the  farms.  The  farm  houses  are  not 
large,  but  from  the  railroad  train  they  looked  neat  and  well  kept. 

My  visit  to  Ireland  was  too  brief  to  enable  me  to  look  into  the  con- 
dition of  the  tenants  in  the  various  parts  of  the  island,  but  by  the 
courtesy  of  the  lord  mayor  of  Dublin,  Mr.  Timothy  Harrington,  and 
Mr.  John  Dillon,  both  members  of  parliament,  I  met  a  number  of 
the  prominent  representatives  of  Ireland  in  national  politics.  A  lunch- 
eon at  the  Mansion  House  was  attended  by  some  75  of  the  Irish  leaders, 
including  Archbishop  "Walsh,  John  Redmond,  John  Dillon,  Michael 
Davitt,  William  Field,  Patrick  O'Brien,  several  members  of  the  city 
council,  ex-Mayor  Valentine  Dillon,  High  Sheriff  Thomas  Powers, 
and  Drs.  McArdle  and  Cox,  and  other  persons  distinguished  in  various 
walks  of  life. 

The  dinner  at  Mr.  Dillon's  gave  me  a  chance  to  meet  Mr.  Bailey 
of  the  new  land  commission,  and  Mr.  Finucane,  lately  connected  with 

498 


T.    P.    O  CONNOR 
MR.    JOHN   DILLON 


MR.    MICHAEL    DAVITT 
MR.    JOHN    E.    REDMOND 


500  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

the  Indian  department,  and  to  become  better  acquainted  with  the 
more  prominent  of  the  Irish  leaders  whose  names  have  become  familiar 
to  American  readers,  and  whom  I  met  at  luncheon. 

Archbishop  Walsh  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  beloved  of 
the  Irish  clergy,  and  he  endeared  himself  to  the  friends  of  bimetallism 
throughout  the  world  by  the  pamphlet  which  he  wrote  some  years 
ago,  setting  forth  the  effect  of  the  gold  standard  upon  the  Irish  tenant 
farmer.  It  was  a  genuine  pleasure  to  make  his  personal  acquaintance. 
It  may  be  added,  in  passing,  that  the  tenants  of  Ireland  will  be  more 
than  ever  interested  in  the  stable  dollar  when  they  have  secured  title 
to  their  lands  and  assumed  the  payments  which  extend  over  more 
than  sixty  years.  Any  increase  in  the  value  of  the  dollar  would 
increase  the  burden  of  these  payments  by  lessening  the  price  which 
they  would  obtain  for  the  products  of  the  soil. 

Mr.  John  Redmond  is  the  leader  of  the  Irish  party  in  parliament, 
and,  having  visited  the  United  States,  is  personally  known  to  many 
of  our  people.  He  has  the  appearance  of  a  well-to-do  lawyer,  is  quick 
to  catch  a  point,  ready  of  speech  and  immensely  popular  with  his 
people.  He  has  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  forcible  of  the 
Irish  orators,  and  I  regret  that  I  had  no  opportunity  of  hearing  him 
speak. 

Mr.  Dillon  is  a  tall  man,  probably  six  feet  one,  with  a  scholarly  face 
and  wears  a  beard.  His  long  experience  in  parliament,  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  issues  of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  and  his  fidelity 
to  the  interests  of  the  people  of  his  land  have  given  him  a  deservedly 
high  place  among  the  great  Irishmen  of  the  present  generation. 

Mr.  Michael  Davitt  has  also  had  a  conspicuous  career,  but  is  not 
now  in  parliament,  having  resigned  as  a  protest  against  the  Boer 
war.  He  is  the  oldest  of  the  group  and  shows  in  his  countenance  the 
righting  qualities  that  have  made  his  name  known  throughout  the 
world.  He  is  not  a  diplomat — he  has  not  learned  the  language  of 
the  court.  He  is  not  a  compromiser,  but  a  combatant,  and  his  blows 
have  been  telling  ones. 

The  lord  mayor  of  Dublin,  Mr.  Timothy  Harrington,  has  been  hon- 
ored with  a  third  election  as  lord  mayor,  a  position  first  held  by 
Daniel  O'Connell,  but  he  is  always  at  Westminster  whenever  there  is 
an  important  vote  in  parliament.  He  is  a  typical  Irishman,  good- 
natured,  full  of  humor,  well  informed  and  a  natural  politician. 

At  a  dinner  given  a  few  days  later  at  the  National  Liberal  club  in 
London  by  Mr.  T.  P.  O'Connor,  I  met  several  other  Irish  members, 
among  them  Mr.  William  Redmond,  brother  of  the  leader  of  the  Irish 
party,  and  himself  a  man  of  great  ability  and  long  parliamentary 


IRELAND    AND    HER    LEADERS  501 

experience,  and  James  Devlin,  one  of  the  mosl  brilliant  of  the  orators 
of  the  younger  generation.  The  oldest  person  at  the  O'Connor  dinner 
was  Mr.  O'Brien,  the  last  Irishman  who  enjoyed  the  distinction  of 
being  sentenced  to  be  hung,  drawn  and  quartered.  The  host,  Mr. 
O'Connor,  while  he  represents  a  Liverpool  constituency  and  is  not, 
therefore,  technically  speaking,  a  member  of  the  Irish  party,  is  one 
of  the  most  prominent  and  influential  of  the  Irishmen  in  the  house 
of  commons.  He  has  lectured  in  the  United  States  as  well  ;:-  in 
Europe,  and  is  now  editor  of  two  weekly  papers  of  large  circulation. 
He  showed  his  friendliness  toward  America  and  his  appreciation  of 
our  country's  resources  by  taking  unto  himself  an  American  wife — 
a  beautiful  Texan. 

At  Glasgow  I  met  another  member  of  parliament,  Mr.  William  Mc- 
Killup,  who,  though  a  citizen  of  Glasgow,  represents  an  Irish  district 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  everything  that  affects  the  Emerald  isle. 

Mr.  Harrington  and  Mr.  Redmond  took  me  to  the  Dublin  cemetery 
and  Ave  visited  the  graves  of  O'Conncll  and  Parnell.  The  tomb  of  Ire- 
land's great  agitator  is  under  a  massive  pile  of  granite,  made  to  repre- 
sent an  old  Irish  tower.  No  monument  has  yet  been  erected  to  Parnell. 
The  memory  t)f  the  two  dead  statesmen  and  the  presence  of  the  living 
leaders  recalled  the  struggle  to  which  so  many  of  Ireland's  sons  have 
devoted  their  lives,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  extreme  gratification  to  find 
that  substantial  progress  is  being  made. 

It  is  true  that  home  rule  has  not  yet  been  secured,  but  the  contest 
for  home  rule  has  focused  attention  upon  the  industrial  and  political 
condition  of  Erin,  and  a  number  of  remedial  measures  have  been 
adopted.  First,  the  tenant  was  given  title  to  his  improvements  and 
then  the  amount  of  the  rent  was  judicially  determined.  More  recently 
the  authorities  have  been  building  cottages  for  the  rural  laborers. 
Over  15,000  of  these  cottages  have  been  already  erected  and  arrange- 
ments are  being  made  for  some  19,000  more.  These  are  much  more 
comfortable  than  the  former  dwellings,  and  much  safer  from  a  san- 
itary point  of  viewT.  The  recent  land  purchase  act,  which  went  into 
effect  on  November  1,  seems  likely  to  exert  a  very  great  influence  upon 
the  condition  of  the  people.  According  to  its  terms  the  government 
is  to  buy  the  land  of  the  landlord  and  sell  it  to  the  tenants.  As  the 
government  can  borrow  money  at  a  lower  rate  than  the  ordinary  bor- 
rower, it  is  able  to  give  the  tenant  much  better  terms  than  he  gets 
from  his  present  landlord,  and  at  the  same  time  purchase  the  land 
of  the  landlord  at  a  price  that  is  equitable.  The  landlords  are-  show- 
ing a  disposition  to  comply  with  the  spirit  of  the  law,  although  some 
of  them  are  attempting  to  get  a  larger  price  for  their  land  than  it  was 


502 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


worth  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  law.  The  purpose  of  the  law  is  to 
remove  from  politics  the  landlord  question,  which  has  been  a  delicate 
one  to  deal  with.  Most  of  the  larger  estates  were  given  to  the  ancestors 
of  the  present  holders  and  many  of  the  owners  live  in  England  and 
collect  their  rents  through  a  local  agent.  The  new  law  makes  the 
government  the  landlord;  and  the  tenant,  by  paying  a  certain  annual 
sum  for  63  years,  becomes  the  owner  of  the  fee.     He  has  the  privilege 


CHARLES   S.    PARXELL 


of  paying  all  or  any  part,  at  any  time,  and  can  dispose  of  his  interest. 
The  settlement  which  is  now  being  effected  not  only  removes  the  fric- 
tion which  has  existed  between  the  tenant  and  the  landlord,  but  puts 
the  tenant  in  a  position  where  he  can  appeal  to  the  government  with 
reasonable  certainty  of  redress  in  case  unforeseen  circumstances  make 
hi-  lot  harder  than  at  present  anticipated.  The  assurance  that  he  will 
become  the  owner  of  the  fee  will  give  to  the  Irish  farmer  an  ambition 


IRELAND    AND    HER    LEADERS 


503 


that  has  heretofore  been  wanting,  for  he  will  be  able  to  save  without 
fear  of  an  increase  in  the  rent.  Not  only  is  the  land  question  in 
process  of  settlement,  but  there  have  been  at  the  same  time  other  im- 
provements which  make  for  the  permanenl  progress  of  the  people. 
There  is  a  constant  increase  in  educational  facilities,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  co-operative  banks  have  been  established.  Agricultural  societies 
have  been  formed  for  the  improvement  of  crops  and  stock,  and  the 
trend  is  distinctly  upward.  The  Irish  leaders  have  not  obtained  all 
that  they  labored  for — there  is  much  to  be  secured  before  their  work 
is  complete,  but  when  the  history  of  Ireland  is  written,  the  leaders 
now  living  will  be  able  to  regard  with  justifiable  pride  the  results 
of  their  devotion  and  sacrifice  and  their  names  will  be  added  to  the 
long  list  of  Irish  patriots  and  statesmen. 

In  Dublin  I  paid  my  respects  to  Lord  Dudley,  lieutenant  governor 
of  Ireland,  whose  residence,  the  Viceregal  Lodge,  is  in  Phoenix  Park, 
and  found  him  so  genial  and  affable  a  host  that  I  am  led  to  hope  that 
in  his  administration  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government  he 
will  make  the  same  attempt  at  just  treatment  that  parliamenl  has  made 
in  the  enactment  of  the  recent  land  measure. 

There  is  a  general  desire  among  the  leaders  of  thought  in  Ireland  to 
check  the  emigration  from  that  countrv.  Thev  feel  that  Ireland  under 
fair  conditions  can  support  a  much  larger  population  than  she  now  has. 
Ireland,  they  say,  has  been  drained  of  many  of  its  most  enterprising 
and  vigorous  sons  and  daughters.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  the  steps 
already  taken  will  entirely  check  the  movement  toward  the  United 
States,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  and  their 
friends  across  the  water  contemplate  the  future  with  brighter  hopes  and 
anticipations  than  they  have  for  a  century. 


MEETIXO    <>1     THE    WATERS KILLAKXEY 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

GROWTH  OF  MUNICIPAL  OWNERSHIP. 

Carved  in  the  mantel  of  the  library  which  adjoins  the  reception  room 
of  the  lord  provost  of  Glasgow  is  the  motto,  "Truth  will  prevail,"  and 
the  triumph  of  truth  is  illustrated  in  the  development  of  municipal 
ownership  in  the  British  Isles. 

Probably  no  city  in  the  world  has  extended  the  sphere  of  municipal 
activity  further  than  the  metropolis  of  Scotland — Glasgow.  By  the 
courtesy  of  the  present  lord  provost,  Sir  James  Ure  Primrose,  I  learned 
something  of  the  manner  in  which  the  city  of  Glasgow  is  administering 
the  work  that  in  most  of  our  American  cities  has  been  left  to  private 
corporations.  It  goes  without  saying  that  Glasgow  owns  and  operates 
its  water  system,  for  that  is  usually  the  first  public  work  upon  which 
a  city  enters.  In  this  case,  however,  the  water  instead  of  being  furnished 
to  the  citizens  at  so  much  per  thousand  gallons  or  at  fixed  hydrant 
rates,  is  paid  for  by  a  tax  upon  the  value  of  the  property.  The  city's 
water  supply  is  brought  from  Lake  Katrine,  forty  miles  away,  and  a 
second  pipe  line  has  recently  been  laid  to  the  lake. 

Glasgow  also  owns  the  gas  plant  and  furnishes  gas  to  consumers  at 
about  50  cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet.  More  recently  the  city  has  en- 
tered upon  the  work  of  supplying  electricity,  both  to  the  city  and  to 
private  houses.  The  tramways,  too,  are  owned  and  operated  by  the 
municipality.  The  service  is  excellent  and  the  fare  depends  upon  the 
distance  traveled,  2d  (4  cents)  being  the  rate  for  a  long  ride  and  Id  (2 
cents)  for  shorter  distances.  At  certain  hours  in  the  day  there  are  wo'rk 
trams  that  carry  the  laboring  man  from  one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other 
for  ^d  or  1  cent.  The  lord  provost  informed  me  that  it  was  the  settled 
policy  of  the  city  to  use  all  the  income  from  public  service  corporations 
in  improving  the  service  and  lessening  the  charge.  In  some  places  the 
surplus,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter,  is  turned  into  the  city  fund  and  to 
that  extent  lessens  the  taxes  (or  rates  as  city  taxes  are  called  in  Great 
Britain).  The  municipal  authorities  in  Glasgow  have,  from  the  begin- 
ning, opposed  this  form  of  indirect  taxation  and  insisted  that  the  service 
should  be  rendered  to  the  public  at  absolute  cost,  leaving  the  people  to 
support  the  city  government  by  direct  taxation. 

504 


GROWTH    OF   MUNICIPAL    OWNERSHIP 


.-.or, 


Not  only  does  Glasgow  furnish  water,  gas,  electricity  and  street  car 
service  to  its  people  at  cost,  but  it  has  undertaken  other  work  still  fur- 
ther in  advance  of  American  cities.  It  has  buill  a  Dumber  of  model 
tenement  houses  for  the  poor  and  rents  them  at  something  less  than  the 
rate  private  individuals  charge  for  similar  quarters.  These  buildings 
have  had  for  their  primary  object  the  improvement  of  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  city.  Slums  in  which  disease  was  rife  have  been  bought, 
cleansed  and  built  up,  with  the  result  that  the  death  rate  has  been  re- 
duced in  those  localities.  These  tenement  houses  are  rented  by  the  week 
or  month  and  the  charge  for  those  that  I  visited  was  about  $33  per  year, 


THE    BROOMELAW    BRIDGE    AT    GLASGOW 


this  covering  taxes  and  water.  The  rooms  are  commodious  and  well 
lighted  and  each  suite  contains  a  cooking  range  fitted  into  the  chimney 
place. 

The  city  has  also  established  a  number  of  lodging  house-  for  .-ingle 
men  and  here  lodgings  can  be  obtained  ranging  from  3V->d  (7  cents)  to 
4Vsd(9  cents)  per  night.  The  lodger  has  the  privilege,  and  most  of  them 
take  advantage  of  it,  of  cooking  his  meals  in  a  large  kitchen  connected 
with  the  building,  and  also  has  the  use  of  the  dining  room  and  reading 
room.  One  lodging  house  is  set  apart  for  widowers  with  children  and  is. 
I  am  informed,  the  only  one  of  its  kind  in  the  world.    About  one  hun- 


506  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

dred  families,  including  in  all  300  persons,  have  rooms  here.  Attend- 
ants are  on  duty  to  look  after  the  children  during  the  day  while  the 
fathers  are  at  work,  and  meals  are  furnished  to  such  as  desire  at  a  mini- 
mum rate. 

The  reading  public  is  already  familiar  with  the  public  baths  which 
have  for  a  number  of  years  been  in  operation  in  Glasgow,  and  to  these 
baths  have  been  added  public  washhouses  where  women  can  bring  the 
family  linen  and  at  the  rate  of  2d  per  hour  make  use  of  the  tubs  and 
drying  room.  I  visited  one  of  these  wash-rooms  and  found  that  the 
number  of  people  taking  advantage  of  it  during  the  first  year  was,  in 
round  numbers,  33,000,  in  the  second  year  34,000.  in  the  third  year 
35,000,  and  in  the  fourth  year  37,000. 

London  is  also  making  progress  in  the  work  of  municipalizing  its 
public  service.  The  city  proper  covers  a  very  small  territory ;  in  fact,  but 
a  mile  square,  the  greater  part  of  the  city  being  under  the  control  of 
what  is  called  the  London  county  council.  The  London  city  council 
has  recently  obtained  from  parliament  the  right  to  deal  with  the  water 
problem  and  a  commission  has  been  created  for  this  purpose  and  is 
now  at  work  appraising  the  value  of  the  different  water  companies 
which  are  to  be  taken  over  by  the  said  council.  The  enormous  price 
demanded  by  these  companies  gives  overwhelming  proof  of  London's 
folly  in  having  so  long  delayed  the  undertaking  of  this  public  work. 
As  there  are  no  surface  street  cars  in  the  city  of  London,  the  city  council 
has  not  had  the  tramway  question  to  deal  with.  The  London  county 
council  has  moved  much  more  rapidly  than  the  city  council,  and  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  John  Burns,  M.  P.,  also  councilman  for  the  district  of 
Battersea,  for  much  valuable  information  on  this  subject,  he  and  Mr. 
A.  J.  Shepheard,  with  whom  I  crossed  the  ocean,  being  kind  enough  to 
introduce  me  to  the  members  of  the  county  council  and  to  place  before 
me  the  statistics  in  possession  of  the  officials.  The  county  council,  besides 
taking  over  the  water  service,  is  also  furnishing  to  some  extent  electricity. 
Just  now  the  county  council  is  putting  down  tramways  and  preparing  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Glasgow  in  the  matter  of  furnishing  transit 
for  its  citizens.  Like  Glasgow,  the  county  council  is  also  furnishing 
lodging  houses  for  the  poorer  classes  and  by  so  doing  is  improving  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  the  city.  In  some  portions  the  council  is  erecting 
tenement  houses;  here,  as  in  Glasgow,  the  council  selected  the  worst 
portions  of  the  city  and  substituting  modern  and  well-equipped  houses 
for  the  unsightly  and  unhealthy  tenement  houses  that  formerly  occu- 
pied the  ground.  Mr.  Burns  took  me  through  one  of  these  sections 
where  about  four  thousand  people  are  being  provided  with  homes  with 
every  modern  improvement  and  at  very  low  rental.    Finding  that  the 


GROWTH    OF    MUNICIPAL    OWNERSHIP  507 

death  rate  among  the  children  of  the  poor  was  alarmingly  great,  the 
county  council  established  a  sterilized  milk  station  and  the  death  rate 
among  the  children  has  been  very  materially  decreased. 

Nottingham,  England,  was  visited  on  the  invitation  of  Mr.  A.  W. 
Black,  until  recently  mayor.  I  became  acquainted  with  him  on  the 
passage  across  the  Atlantic,  and  found  that  he  had  interested  himself 
in  the  work  of  extending  the  municipal  control  of  public  utilities.  From 
him  and  the  town  clerk,  Sir  Samuel  Johnson,  I  learned  that  the  city 
had  been  furnishing  water  to  its  citizens  for  about  thirty  years  and  gas 
for  a  still  longer  time.  The  price  of  gas  has  been  reduced  from  time  to 
time  until  it  is  now  about  50  cents  per  thousand  for  private  citizens,  and 
even  at  this  low  rate  the  gas  plant  pays  into  the  city  treasury  a  net  profit 
of  about  $120,000  a  year.  It  is  only  about  five  years  since  the  city  en- 
tered upon  the  work  of  furnishing  electricity,  but  the  profit  from  that 
source  is  now  nearly  $45,000  annually.  The  city  has  recently  taken 
over  the  tramways,  and  notwithstanding  that  it  has  raised  the  wages  of 
the  employes,  shortened  their  hours  of  labor,  improved  the  service, 
extended  the  lines  and  reduced  the  fares,  it  has  now  derived  about 
$90,000  profit  from  the  earnings  of  the  tramways.  This  has  been  the 
rule  wherever  private  services  have  been  undertaken  by  the  municipal- 
ities.   Nottingham  has  a  population  of  about  250,000. 

I  have  taken  these  cities  as  an  illustration,  they  being  the  ones  con- 
cerning which  I  have  investigated  most  carefully. 

Birmingham  furnishes  water  and  light  to  its  people,  and  has  just 
decided  to  take  charge  of  the  tramway  service.  It  already  owns  the 
tracks,  but  has  been  allowing  private  corporations  to  run  the  cars.  The 
people  have  decided  to  operate  the  lines  in  the  future. 

In  Belfast  I  found  that  the  city  had  decided  to  take  charge  of  the 
tramway  tracks,  the  only  disputed  question  being  whether  the  city 
would  pledge  itself  to  the  permanent  operation  of  the  lines,  or  reserve 
the  right  to  permit  private  corporations  to  use  the  tracks. 

Nothing  has  impressed  me  more  in  my  visit  to  the  British  Isles  than 
the  interest  which  the  leading  citizens  of  the  various  municipalities  are 
taking  in  problems  of  government  and  sociology.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  here  the  members  of  the  city  councils  receive  no  pay.  The 
work  they  do  is  entirely  gratuitous,  and  I  have  found  that  the  councils 
are  composed  of  representatives  of  all  classes  of  society. 

Many  of  the  successful  business  men,  professional  men  and  educators 
are  to  be  found  devoting  a  portion  of  their  time,  sometimes 
a  very  considerable  portion,  to  the  work  of  the  city.  They  at- 
tend meetings,  serve  on  committees  and  carry  on  investigations, 
and  find  their  recompense  not  in  a,  salary,  but  in  the  honor  which 


508  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

attaches  to  the  position  and  in  the  consciousness  that  they  are  giving 
something  of  value  to  their  fellows. 

The  fact  that  English  cities  are  doing  the  work  that  in  American 
cities  is  largely  let  out  to  private  corporations,  may  explain  the  relative 
absence  of  corruption  as  compared  with  some  of  our  American  cities, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  among  the  people  generally,  service  in  the  city 
government  is  more  highly  regarded  than  it  is  in  most  of  the  large 
cities  of  the  United  States. 

I  observed  with  interest  the  enthusiasm  manifested  by  the  officials  in 
the  work  being  done  by  the  respective  cities.  At  Birmingham,  Mr. 
Roland  H.  Barkley,  a  member  of  the  city  council,  by  request  of  the  lord 
mayor  called  upon  me,  and  not  only  showed  great  familiarity  with  the 
work  of  the  city  government,  but  manifested  an  intense  desire  to  secure 
for  his  city  the  methods  that  had  been  shown  by  experience  to  be 
the  best. 

Mr.  Black,  recently  mayor  of  Nottingham,  is  a  very  successful  lace 
manufacturer,  and  yet  he  seemed  as  much  concerned  about  the  affairs  of 
the  city  as  about  the  details  of  his  own  business.  Lord  Mayor  Harring- 
ton of  Dublin,  Lord  Mayor  Dixon  of  Belfast  and  Lord  Provost  Primrose 
of  Glasgow  were  all  alive  to  the  importance  of  their  work,  and  seemed 
to  make  the  discharge  of  their  duties  their  chief  concern. 

In  this  connection,  I  desire  to  record  my  appreciation  of  the  public 
service  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  agreeable  men  whom  I  have 
met  in  the  Old  World.  Mr.  John  Burns.  He  began  his  industrial  life  at 
the  age  of  ten  as  a  maker  of  candles.  He  was  afterward  apprenticed  as  a 
machinist,  and  after  acquiring  proficiency  in  his  trade  followed  that  line 
of  employment  until  his  associates  made  him  their  representative  in  the 
city  government.  He  was  soon  afterwards  sent  to  parliament,  and  has 
for  some  fifteen  years  represented  his  district  in  both  bodies.  He  is  only 
45,  but  his  hair  and  beard  are  so  streaked  with  gray  that  one  would 
think  him  ten  years  older.  He  is  a  little  below  medium  height,  strongly 
built  and  very  active  and  ensrgetic.  A  diligent  student,  quick-witted 
and  effective  in  speech,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  stands  today  among 
the  world's  foremost  representatives  of  the  wage-earners.  He  is  opposed 
to  both  drinking  and  gambling.  He  receives  no  salary,  either  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  county  council  or  as  a  member  of  parliament,  but  is  supported 
by  his  association,  which  pays  him  what  is  equivalent  to  a  thousand 
dollars  a  year.  With  this  very  meager  income  he  devotes  his  life  to 
public  work,  and  I  have  not  met  a  more  conscientious  or  unselfish  pub- 
public  servant,  and  yet  what  Mr.  Burns  is  doing  on  a  large  scale  many 
others  are  doing  in  a  lesser  degree. 


GROWTH  OF  MUNICIPAL  OWNERSHIP  509 

I  wish  that  all  the  citizens  of  my  country. could  come  into  contact  with 
the  public  men  whom  I  have  met,  and  catch  something  of  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  they  are  applying  themselves  to  the  solution  of  the 
municipal  problems  that  press  upon  the  present  generation.  It  would 
certainly  increase  the  velocity  of  American  reforms,  and  arouse  thai 
latent  patriotism  which  only  needs  arousing  to  cope  successfully  with  all 
difficulties. 

While  it  may  seem  that  the  leaders  of  municipal  government  in 
Europe  are  somewhat  altruistic  in  their  labors,  there  is  a  broader  sense 
in  which  they  are  quite  selfish,  but  it  is  that  laudable  selfishness  which 
manifests  itself  in  one's  desire  to  lift  himself  up,  not  by  dragging  down 
others  or  doing  injustice  to  others  but  by  lifting  up  the  level  upon  which 
all  stand.  Those  who  add  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  their  com- 
munity are  making  their  own  lives  and  property  more  secure.  Those 
who  are  endeavoring  to  infuse  hope  and  ambition  into  the  hearts  of  the 
hopeless  and  their  children  arc  working  more  wisely  than  those  who 
are  so  short-sighted  as  to  believe  that,  the  accumulation  of  money  is  the 
only  object  of  life. 

Let  us  hope  that  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  the  successful  business 
men  in  the  United  States,  instead  of  continuing  their  accumulations  to 
the  very  end  of  life,  will  be  satisfied  with  a  competency  and,  when  this 
is  secured,  give  to  the  country  the  benefit  of  their  experience,  their  in- 
telligence and  their  conscience,  as  many  of  the  business  men  of  England, 
Scotland  and  Ireland  are  now  doing. 


CHAPTER  L. 

FRANCE  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

My  call  upon  President  Loubet  was  the  most  interesting  incident 
of  my  visit  to  France.  It  was  arranged  by  General  Horace  Porter, 
American  ambassador  to  France,  who  conducted  us  to  the  Elysee  pal- 
ace, which  is  the  White  House  of  the  French  republic. 

President  Loubet  is  probably  the  'most  democratic  executive  that 
France  has  ever  had.  He  reminded  me  of  our  former  president,  Ben- 
jamin Harrison,  and  of  another  of  our  distinguished  citizens,  Andrew 
Carnegie — not  exactly  like  either,  but  resembling  both — the  former 
in  appearance,  the  latter  in  manner  as  well  as  appearance. 

President  Loubet  is  below  the  medium  height,  even  of  Frenchmen. 
His  shoulders  are  broad  and  his  frame  indicative  of  great  physical 
strength.  His  hair  is  snow  white,  as  are  also  his  beard  and  mustache. 
He  wears  his  beard  cut  square  at  the  chin. 

His  eyes  are  dark  blue,  suggesting  that  his  hair  and  beard  were 
blonde  before  the  years  bleached  them.  His  voice  is  soft,  and  he  speaks 
with  great  vivacity,  emphasizing  his  words  by  expressive  gestures. 

He  received  us  in  his  working  room,  a  beautiful  semi-oval  apart- 
ment, whose  large  windows  open  into  the  beautiful  gardens  attached 
to  the  Elysee  palace.  The  oval  end  of  the  room  bore  great  priceless 
Gobelin  tapestry,  depicting  abundance.  On  a  pedestal  under  the 
tapestry  was  a  marble  bust  of  the  Minerva-like  head  of  the  Goddess 
of  Liberty  of  the  French  republic. 

The  president's  desk  is  a  long,  flat  table,  eminently  business  look- 
ing, covered  with  papers  and  lighted  by  two  desk  lamps  and  green 
shades.  A  huge  electrolier  dependent  from  the  frescoed  ceiling  filled 
the  room  with  light. 

The  president  wore  a  frock  coat,  the  tri-colored  button  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor  adorning  the  lapel. 

President  Loubet  is  a  very  cordial  man,  and  takes  pride  in  the  fact 
that,  like  most  of  our  American  presidents,  he  has  worked  his  way 
up  from  the  ranks  of  the  common  people.  His  father  was  a  farmer 
near  the  village  of  Montelimar. 

Young  Loubet  studied  law,  and  then  public  affairs.  He  has  held 
nearly  every  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people.     He  began  as  mayor  of 

510 


FRANCE    AND    HER    PEOPLE 


511 


Montelivnar,  where  his  aged  mother  still  lives  in  the  old  farmhouse. 
He  was  elected  a  deputy  in  1876,  and  in  1886  was  elected  to  the 
senate.  He  was  minister  of  public  works  in  1887,  and  minister  of  the 
interior  in  1892.  In  1895  he  was  elected  president  of  the  senate,  and 
in  1899  he  was  elected  president  of  the  republic. 


NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE. 


He  talked  freely  on  various  questions  that  came  up  for  considera- 
tion, and  showed  himself  to  be  thoroughly  informed  upon  the  eco- 
nomic as  well  as  the  political  questions  with  which  France  has  to  deal. 
His  personal  popularity  and  strong  good  sense  have  been  of  inestima- 


512  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

ble  value  to  his  country  in  the  trying  times  caused  by  the  Dreyfw- 
case. 

President  Loubet  has  been  prominently  connected  with  the  bimetal- 
lic movement,  and  shows  himself  familiar  with  the  principles  upon 
which  bimetallists  rely  in  their  defense  of  that  system  of  finance. 

The  president,  like  all  the  Frenchmen  whom  I  met,  feels  very 
friendly  toward  the  United  States,  and  it  goes  without  saying  that 
France  under  his  administration  is  not  likely  to  do  anything  at  which 
our  country  can  take  just  offense. 

It  was  gratifying  to  me  to  hear  him  express  so  much  good  will,  for 
it  was  evidence  of  the  attachment  which  the  French  people  feel  toward 
those  republican  principles  of  government  which  they  have  established 
by  so  much  struggle  and  sacrifice. 

Municipal  ownership  has  not  made  as  much  progress  in  France  as 
in  England,  although  most  of  the  cities  now  own  their  water 
works,  and  some  of  them  their  lighting  plants.  The  railroads  are 
nearly  all  owned  by  private  corporations,  but  they  operate  under 
charters  running  about  100  years,  half  of  which  time  has  now  elapsed. 

According  to  the  charters,  the  government  guaranteed  a  certain  rate 
of  interest  on  the  investment,  besides  a  certain  contribution  to  the 
sinking  fund,  and  at  the  end  of  the  charter  the  roads  become  the 
property  of  the  state. 

Although  it  is  nearly  fifty  years  before  the  charters  expire,  the 
course  to  be  adopted  by  the  government  is  already  being  discussed, 
some  insisting  that  the  government  should  take  over  the  roads  and 
operate  them — others  favoring  an  arrangement  that  will  continue  pri- 
vate operation,  although  the  government  will  be  the  owner  of  the 
property.  The  same  difference  of  opinion  to  be  found  in  our  country 
is  to  be  found  here,  and  some  of  the  high  officials  are  strongly  opposed 
to  the  government  entering  upon  the  operation  of  the  roads. 

President  Loubet  spoke  with  evident  gratification  of  the  general 
diffusion  of  wealth  in  France.  He  said  that  they  had  few  men  of 
large  fortunes,  but  a  great  many  men  of  moderate  means,  and  he  felt 
that  the  republic  was  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  fact  that  the 
resources  of  the  country  are  so  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 

He  explained  that  the  government  loans  were  taken  by  the  people  in 
small  amounts  and  subscribed  many  times  over.  Very  few  of  the 
bonds  representing  the  French  debt  are  held  outside  of  France.  The 
debt  furnishes  a  sort  of  savings  bank  for  the  citizens,  and  their  eager- 
ness to  invest  in  "rentes"  (the  government  bonds)  is  proof  of  their 
patriotism  as  well  as  of  their  thrift. 


FRANCE    AND    lll.l;    PEOPLE  513 

I  heard  so  much  of  the  French  peasanl  thai  1  devoted  one  day 
to  a  visit  into  the  country.  Going  oul  some  fiftv  miles  from  Paris  I 
found  a  village  of  about  eighty  families.  Selecting'  a  representative 
peasant,  1  questioned  him  about  the  presenl  condition  and  prospects 
of  the  French  farmer.  1  found  thai  about  three-fourths  of  the  peas- 
ants of  that  village  owned  their  homes,  bul  that  only  about  one-fourth 
owned  the  farms  they  tilled. 

I  should  explain  that  the  French  peasants  do  not  as  a  rule  live 
upon  the  farms,  as  is  the  custom  in  the  United  State-.  With  us, 
whether  a  farmer  owns  forty  acres  or  a  quarter  seel  ion,  he  usually  lives 
upon  the  land,  and  the  houses  are  therefore  scattered  at  intervals  over 
the  country.     • 

The  French  peasants,  on  the  contrary,  are  inclined  to  gather  in  vil- 
lages, most  of  them  owning  their  house-  and  gardens,  but  going  out 
into  the  country  to  cultivate  their  fields.  Sometimes  a  peasant  will 
have  a  vineyard  in  one  direction  from  his  home,  a  pasture  in  another, 
and  a  wheat  field  or  beet  field  in  yet  another  direction. 

These  fields  are  sometimes  owned,  hut  more  often  are  rented.  The 
landlord  aims  to  get  about  4  per  cent  annually  on  his  investment.  The 
tenant,  however,  pays  the  taxes,  which  sometimes  amount  to  1  or  2 
per  cent  more. 

The  peasants  complain  that  the  horses  which  they  need  to  cultivate 
their  crops  are  made  more  expensive  by  the  increased  consumption 
of  horse  flesh  as  food,  the  demand  having  raised  the  price  of  horses. 

The  same  cause  has  operated,  so  I  was  informed,  to  reduce  the  price 
of  cattle.  The  widespread,  use  of  automobiles  has  lessened  the  price  of 
straw  in  Paris,  and  this  has  been  felt  by  the  wheat  growers. 

I  found  the  peasant  with  whom  I  talked  to  be  an  ardent  protection- 
ist. He  spoke  as  if  the  farmers  were  driven  to  it  as  a  lasl  resort.  As 
I  was  leaving  he  assured  me  that  he  was  glad  to  speak  to  a  "repub- 
lican" and  said  he  would  not  have  talked  to  me  at  all  if  I  had  not 
been  one. 

This  was  an  evidence  of  his  loyalty  to  the  existing  regime  in  France 
and  also  gave  additional  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  republican  party  in 
the  United  States  has  an  advantage  in  appealing  to  newly-arrived 
immigrants  merely  by  reason  of  its  name. 

Foreigners  arc  much  better  acquainted  with  the  word  "republic"  than 
with  the  word  "democracy."  and  I  find  that  republican  speakers  have 
taken  advantage  of  this  fact  and  represented  the  republican  party  as 
the  only  exponent  of  the  doctrines  of  a  republic. 

The  New  York  Independent  about  a  year  ago  printed  the  autobiog- 
raphy of  a  foreign  born  citizen,  who  presented  the  same  idea  and  told 


FRANCE  AND  HER  PEOPLE  515 

of  a  republican  speech  in  which  this  argument  was  made  by  the  orator. 

The  birth  rate  in  France  scarcely  exceeds  the  death  rate,  and  to  my 
surprise  I  found  that  the  increase  in  the  country  was  even  less  than  in 
Paris,  in  proportion  to  the  population.  One  Frenchman,  apparently 
well  informed,  told  me  that  there  were  small  villages  in  which  it  was 
difficult  to  find  a  child. 

In  the  village  which  I  visited  I  was  told  that  the  families  average 
two  or  three  children.  To  show,  however,  that  the  small  family  was 
not  the  universal  rule,  attention  was  called  to  one  family  there  in 
which  there  were  eleven  children. 

The  French  peasant  is  a  very  industrious  man,  and  cultivates  his 
land  with  great  care,  and  as  soon  as  he  saves  a  little  money  he  tries 
to  add  to  the  area  of  his  farm.  The  wife  is  usually  an  efficient  helper, 
whether  in  the  city  or  in  the  country.  In  the  city  she  is  often  copart- 
ner with  her  husband  in  the  store,  and  assists  him  to  save. 

Whether  the  tendency  of  the  peasants  to  gather  in  villages,  rather 
than  to  live  each  on  his  own  farm,  is  due  to  their  sociability  or  is  a  relic 
of  the  feudal  system,  I  cannot  say — both  reasons  were  given. 

The  French  peasant  has  reason  to  feel  the  burden  of  militarism, 
but  the  recollection  of  the  last  war  with  Germany  is  so  fresh  in  his 
mind  that  he  is  not  likely  to  make  any  vigorous  protest  as  long  as  he 
believes  a  large  army  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  republic. 

The  sentiment  of  the  French  people  on  this  subject  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  figure  representing  Alsace-Lorraine  in  the  group  of  stat- 
ues in  the  beautiful  Place  de  la  Concorde  is  always  covered  with 
mourning  wreaths. 

I  visited  the  Bank  of  France,  where  I  was  received  by  the  governor, 
M.  Georges  Pallain.  The  bank's  capital  stock  is  about  $40,000,000, 
and  it  pays  a  dividend  of  about  12  per  cent,  equal  to  about  4  per  cent 
on  the  present  market  value  of  the  stock.  The  deposits  are  much 
smaller  in  proportion  to  the  capital  than  are  the  deposits  of  our  large 
American  banks.  This  is  true  of  the  Bank  of  England,  and  likewise 
of  the  banks  of  Mexico. 

This  smaller  proportion  between  the  deposits  and  the  capital  stock 
arrested  my  attention,  because  in  the  United  States  the  proportion  is 
sometimes  so  great  as  to  leave  little  margin  for  shrinkage  in  the  event 
of  industrial  disturbance.  If  a  bank  has  loans  amounting  to  ten  times 
its  capital  stock,  a  shrinkage  of  one-tenth  in  the  value  of  its  assets 
would  wipe  out  the  capital. 

The  Bank  of  France,  the  Bank  of  England,  and  the  leading  banks 
of  Mexico  seem  to  be  conducted  on  a  more  conservative  basis.  The 
Bank  of  England  and  the  Bank  of  France  differ  largely  in  their  note 


V. 


FRANCE  AND  HER  PEOPLE  517 

issues.  The  former  has  the  right  to  issue  uncovered  notes  to  the  extent 
of  the  bank's  loan  to  the  English  government.  Upon  this  loan  the 
bank  receives  no  interest,  the  note  issue  being  considered  an  equiv- 
alent, as  no  reserve  is  required  to  be  kept  against  these  notes.  The  bank 
can  also  issue  notes  in  addition  to  these,  but  I  found  to  my  surprise 
that  this  note  issue  is  not  profitable  to  the  bank,  since  these  notes  arc 
virtually  gold  certificates,  the  bank  being  required  to  keep  on  hand 
an  equal  amount  of  gold  as  a  redemption  fund. 

The  Bank  of  France  has  outstanding  nearly  $900,000,000  in  notes, 
which  is  the  paper  money  of  the  country.  The  bank  has  the  option  of 
redeeming  these  notes  either  in  gold  or  silver,  and  it  exercises  that 
option  by  refusing  to  pay  gold  when  gold  becomes  scarce,  or  when 
it  seems  undesirable  to  furnish  gold  for  export. 

It  has  recently  refused  gold,  and  those  desiring  to  export  that 
metal  have  had  to  purchase  it  at  a  slight  premium. 

The  "gold  contract,"  which  has  become  so  common  in  the  United 
States,  and  which  was  used  to  terrorize  the  public  in  1896,  seems  to 
be  unknown  in  France;  or  at  least  I  could  find  no  one  who  knew  any- 
thing about  such  contracts.  They  are  regarded  as  contrary  to  public 
policy. 

The  president  of  the  Bank  of  France  is  appointed  by  the  govern- 
ment, so  that  the  bank  stands  in  a  different  attitude  toward  the  gov- 
ernment from  the  national  banks  of  our  country. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  number  of  prominent  Frenchmen 
during  my  visit  to  Paris,  among  them  Senator  Combes,  the  prime 
minister,  who  is  just  now  a  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  contest 
between  the  government  and  the  various  religious  orders;  Senator 
Clemenceau,  one  of  the  ablest  editors  in  Paris,  and  a  brilliant  conver- 
sationalist; Baron  d'Estonelles  de  Constant,  a  man  of  high  ideals  and 
leader  of.  the  peace  movement  in  France;  the  Rev.  Albert  Kohler, 
author  of  "The  Religion  of  Effort,"  and  the  Rev.  Charles  Wagner, 
Avhose  book,  "The  Simple  Life,"  has  had  such  a  large  circulation  in 
the  United  States. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Wagner  is  just  such  a  looking  man  as  you  would 
expect  to  wrrite  such  a  book — strong,  rugged  and  earnest.  He  impresses 
one  as  a  man  with  a  mission,  and  although  young  in  years,  he  has 
already  made  an  impress  upon  the  thought  of  the  world.  His  book 
is  a  protest  against  the  materialism  which  is  making  man  the  slave  of 
his  possessions. 

The  influence  which  Mr.  Wagner  has  already  exerted  shows  the 
power  of  a  great  thought,  even  when  it  must  cross  the  boundaries  of 
nations  and  pass  through  translation  into  many  different  tongues.     I 


TOMB  OF  NAPOLEON. 


FRANCE  AND  HER  PEOPLE.         519 

shall  remember  my  communion  with  this  apostle  of  simplicity  as  one 
remembers  a  visit  to  a  refreshing  spring. 

Dr.  Max  Nordau,  the  famous  author  of  "Degeneracy,"  although  a 
German,  lives  in  Paris.  I  enjoyed  my  call  upon  him  very  much. 
One  quickly  recognizes  the  alertness  of  his  mind,  his  brilliant  powers 
of  generalization  and  bis  aptness  in  epigram.  T  also  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  Senator  Fougeirol,  a  noted  advocate  of  bimetallism. 

The  visitor  to  Paris  is  immediately  impressed  by  the  magnificence 
of  the  city's  boulevards,  parks  and  public  squares.  There  is  an  elegant 
spaciousness  about  the  boulevards  and  squares  that  surpasses  anything 
I  have  seen  elsewhere. 

Parisians  assert  that  the  Avenue  des  Champs  Elysecs  is  the  finest  in 
the  world,  and  so  far  as  my  observation  goes  I  am  not  prepared  to 
dispute  the  claim.  The  beauty  of  Paris  deserves  all  the  adjectives 
that  have  been  lavished  upon  it. 

One  might  dwell  at  length  upon  the  almost  endless  array  of  bril- 
liant shop  windows  where  jewelry,  bric-a-brac,  hats,  gowns  and  man- 
tles are  displayed  (and  I  am  not  surprised  that  Paris  is  the  Mecca  for 
women),  but  I  desire  to  refer  briefly  to  the  more  permanent  beauty 
of  Paris — the  beauty  of  its  architecture,  sculpture  and  paintings. 

Paris'  public  buildings,  ancient  and  modern,  combine  solidity  with 
beauty.  The  statues,  columns  and  arches  that  adorn  the  parks  and 
boulevards  bespeak  the  skill  of  the  artists  and  the  appreciation  of  the 
public  which  pays  for  their  maintenance. 

Paris'  many  picture  galleries,  chief  of  which  are  the  Louvre  and 
the  Luxembourg,  contain,  as  all  the  world  knows,  extraordinary  collec- 
tions of  treasures  of  art.  The  encouragement  given  by  the  govern- 
ment to  every  form  of  art  has  made  Paris  the  abode  of  students  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth. 

The  huge  palaces  at  Versailles  and  Pontainebleau  are  interesting 
relics  of  the  monarchical  period,  and  they  are  instructive,  also,  in  that 
they  draw  a  contrast  between  the  days  of  the  empire  and  the  present 
time.  The  extremes  of  society  have  been  drawn  closely  together  by 
the  growth  of  democracy,  and  the  officials  chosen  by  the  people  and 
governing  by  authority  of  the  people  are  much  nearer  to  the  people  who 
pay  the  taxes  and  support  the  government  than  the  kings  who  lived 
in  gorgeous  palaces  and  claimed  to  rule  by  right  divine. 

I  have  left  to  the  last  those  reminders  of  earlier  France  which  are 
connected  with  the  reigns  of  Napoleon.  You  cannot  visit  Pari?  with- 
out being  made  familiar  with  the  face  of  the  "Little  Corsican,"  for  it 
stares  at  you  from  the  shop  windows  and  looks  down  at  you  from  the 
walls  of  palaces  and  galleries. 


520  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

You  see  the  figure  of  "the  man  of  destiny"  in  marble  and  bronze, 
sometimes  on  a  level  with  the  eye,  sometimes  piercing  the  sky,  as  it 
does  in  the  Place  Vendome,  where  it  is  perched  on  top  of  a  lofty  col- 
umn, whose  pedestal  and  sides  are  covered  with  panels  in  relief  made 
from  cannon  captured  by  Napoleon  in  battle. 

The  gigantic  Arch  of  Triumph  on  the  Champs  Elysees,  commenced 
by  Napoleon,  in  commemoration  of  his  successes,  testifies  to  the  splen- 
dor of  his  conceptions. 

But  overshadowing  all  other  Napoleonic  monument-  is  his  tomb 
on  the  banks  of  the  Seine,  adjoining  the  Invalides.  Its  gilded  dome 
attracts  attention  from  afar,  and  on  nearer  approach  one  is  charmed 
with  the  strength  of  its  Avails  and  the  symmetry  of  its  proportions. 

At  the  door  the  guard  cautions  the  thoughtless  to  enter  with  uncov- 
ered head,  but  the  admonition  is  seldom  necessary,  for  an  air  of  so- 
lemnity pervades  the  place. 

In  the  center  of  the  rotunda,  beneath  the  frescoed  vault  of  the  great 
dome,  is  a  circular  crypt.  Leaning  over  the  heavy  marble  balustrade 
I  gazed  on  the  massive  sarcophagus  below  which  contains  all  that 
was  mortal  of  that  marvelous  combination  of  intellect  and  will. 

The  sarcophagus  is  made  of  dark  red  porphyry,  a  fitly  chosen  stone 
that  might  have  been  colored  by  the  mingling  of  the  intoxicating  wine 
of  ambition  with  the  blood  spilled  to  satisfy  it.    . 

Looking  down  upon  the  sarcophagus  and  the  stands  of  tattered 
battle  flags  that  surround  it,  I  reviewed  the  tragic  career  of  this 
grand  master  of  the  art  of  slaughter,  and  weighed,  as  best  I  could,  the 
claims  made  for  him  by  his  friends.  And  then  I  found  myself  won- 
dering what  the.  harvest  might  have  been  had  Napoleon's  genius  led 
him  along  peaceful  paths,  had  the  soil  of  Europe* been  stirred  by  the 
plowshare  rather  than  by  his  trenchant  blade,  and  the  reaping  done 
by  implements  less  destructive  than  his  shot  and  shell. 

Just  beyond  and  above  the  entombed  emperor  stands  a  cross  upon 
which  hang-  ;i  Life-size  figure  of  the  Christ,  flooded  by  a  mellow  lemon- 
colored  light,  which  pours  through  the  stained  glass  windows  of  the 
chapel. 

I  know  not  whether  it  was  by  accident  or  design  that  this  god  of 
war  thus  sleeps,  as  il  were,  at  the  very  feet  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

"Whether  so  intended  or  not.  it  will,  to  those  who  accept  the  teach- 
ing- of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  symbolize  love's  final  victory  over 
force  and  the  triumph  of  that  philosophy  which  finds  happiness  in 
helpful  service  and  glory  in  doing  good. 


CHAPTER  LI. 
THE  REPUBLIC  OF  SWITZERLAND. 

No  wonder  Switzerland  is  free.  The  beauty  of  the  country  inspires 
a  love  of  native  land  and  the  mountains  form  a  natural  fortress  behind 
whidi  the  Swiss  people  could  withstand  armies  many  times  the  size  of 
tlnir  own.  Nowhere  can  one  find  as  great  a  variety  of  landscape  in  a 
day's  ride  by  train  as  in  Switzerland.  The  road  from  Berne  via 
Chiasso,  on  the  Italian  border,  to  Italy,  passes  along  the  .-bores  of  lakes 
whose  transparent  waters  reflect  the  precipitous  rocks  that  overhang 
them;  by  mountain  streams  that  dash  and  foam  madly  as  if  anxious 
to  escape  from  the  solitude  of  the  hills  into  the  companionship  of  the 
larger  waters  of  lake  and  sea,  across  the  gorges,  around  the  foothills 
and  through  the  nine-mile  tunnel  of  St.  Gothard,  which  pierces  the 
mountain  a  mile  beneath  the  summit,  and  then  down  into  the  valleys 
that  widen  out  from  the  base  of  the  Alps.  The  day's  enthralling  ride 
reminds  one  of  a  cinematographic  film,  so  quickly  do  the  views  change 
and  so  different  is  each  from  the  other.  Along  the  lower  levels  are 
tiny  farms  and  vineyards,  a  little  higher  up  are  terraced  pastures  and 
quaint  farm  houses,  with  gabled  roofs — often  residence  and  barn  are 
under  the  same  roof!  The  mountain  sides  are  scarred  with  chutes 
down  which  the  peasants  drag  timber  on  the  snowT.  One  passes 
through  a  great  variety  of  climate  in  descending  from  the  City  of 
Mexico  to  Vera  Cruz,  but  there  one  does  not  see  such  a  succession  of 
picturesque  views  as  greets  the  eye  in  the  ride  across  the  Alps. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  people  of  Switzerland  could  find  ample 
employment  in  supplying  the  wants  of  those  who  temporarily  visit 
their  land,  but  to  the  industry  of  hotelkeeping  are  added  two  that 
have  made  Switzerland  famous  throughout  the  world — watchmaking 
and  wood  carving.  While  watches  are  manufactured  as  well  and 
as  cheaply  in  the  LTnited  States  as  in  Switzerland,  this  industry  is  one 
that  makes  its  presence  known  in  every  city  of  this  mountain  republic. 
The  genius  of  the  Swiss  for  wood  carving  manifests  itself  in  innumer- 
able ways.  The  cuckoo  clock  and  the  hear— the  symbol  of  Switzerland. 
as  the  eagle  is  of  the  United  States — are  seen  in  shop  windows  every- 
where; the  bear  in  innumerable  postures,  the  clock  in  innumerable 
sizes.  At  Berne  T  found  some  wooden  nut-crackers  formed  to  resemble 
a  head,  the  lower  jaw  working  as  a  lever  and  crushing  the  nut  against 
the  upper  jaw.     I  observed  one  nut-cracker  made  to  resemble  Presi- 

521 


522  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

dent  Roosevelt,  and  another  former  Colonial  Secretary  Chamberlain 
of  England.  I  presume  that  the  manufacturer  intended  to  suggest 
that  these  two  statesmen  have  more  nuts  to  crack  just  now  than  any 
other  men  of  political  prominence! 

More  interesting,  however,  than  its  scenery  or  its  industries  is  the 
government  of  Switzerland.  It  is  the  most  democratic  government  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  if  the  word  democratic  is  taken  to  mean  the 
rule  of  the  people,  for  in  Switzerland  the  people  rule  more  completely 
than  anywhere  else.  In  some  of  the  small  cantons  the  people  meet  at 
stated  times  and  act  upon  political  matters  in  public  meeting,  recall- 
ing the  old  town  hall  meeting  of  New  England.  In  all  the  cantons 
and  in  the  federal  government  they  have  the  initiative  and  referen- 
dum. The  latter  has  been  in  use  since  1874;  the  former  has  been 
adopted  more  recently. 

From  the  courteous  assistant  secretary  of  state  I  learned  that  during 
the  last  twenty-nine  years  235  federal  laws  have  been  submitted  to  the 
people  by  means  of  the  referendum,  of  which  210  were  adopted  and 
twenty-five  rejected.  The  total  voting  population  of  Switzerland  is 
about  768,000,  and  it  requires  a  petition  signed  by  30,000 — less  than 
5  per  cent  of  the  voting  population — to  secure  a  referendum  vote  on 
any  bill.  Fifty  thousand  voters  can  petition  for  the  enactment  of  any 
desired  law,  and  when  such  a  petition  is  filed  the  federal  legislature 
can  either  pass  the  law  or  refuse  to  pass  it.  If  it  refuses,  however,  its 
action  must  be  passed  upon  by  a  referendum  vote.  Since  the  existence 
of  this  provision  six  petitions  have  been  presented,  and  in  every  case 
the  legislature  refused  to  pa-s  the  law  demanded  by  the  petitioners. 
In  five  cases  the  people  at  the  referendum  vote  sustained  the  legisla- 
ture; in  one  case  the  action  of  the  legislature  was  overruled  by  the 
voters.  In  this  instance  the  people  had  petitioned  for  the  passage  of 
a  law  that  would  prevent  the  slaughter  of  animals  for  food  until  after 
they  had  been  rendered  insensible. 

I  found  that  the  Swiss  people  are  so  pleased  with  the  popular  control 
over  government,  given  them  by  the  initiative  and  referendum,  that 
there  is  no  possibility  that  any  party  will  attempt  to  attack  it,  although 
there  are  some  that  would  prefer  the  representative  system  freed  from 
the  restraint  which  the  initiative  and  referendum  give.  Their  argu- 
ment- are,  first, that  the  legislators  knowing  that  the  people  can  initiate 
l'-iii-lation  feel  less  responsibility;  and,  second,  that  as  the  legislator-' 
actions  can  be  reviewed  by  the  people,  the  legislators  are  more  timid 
about  introducing  needed  reforms.  The  friends  of  the  initiative 
and  referendum  meet  these  arguments  by  declaring  that  the  legislator- 
are  really  not  relieved  from  responsibility,  but  on  the  other  hand  are 


THE    REPUBLIC    OF    SWITZERLAND  523 

incited  to  action  by  the  fact  that  the  people  can  act  in  the  event  that 
their  interests  are  neglected  by  the  legislature  and  that  the  timidity 
suggested  is  only  likely  to  prevent  legislation  when  the  legislators 
themselves  doubt  the  merit  of  the  proposed  action. 

By  courtesy  of  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Hill,  I  had  the  honor  of 
meeting  Dr.  Adolphe  Deucher,  "president  of  the  Swiss  con  federation," 
as  he  is  styled.  He  is  of  German  Mood,  as  his  name  would  indicate, 
and  he  is  a  fine  representative  of  the  scholarly,  big-hearted  Teuton. 
He  is  a  tall,  slender  man,  of  about  60,  with  a  ruddy  lace,  white  mus- 
tache and  scanty  white  hair,  lie  speaks  with  frankness  and  conviction 
and  is  as  simple  in  his  manners  as  the  humblest  of  his  people.  He 
has  been  president  once  before,  and  has  represented  his  canton  in  the 
federal  legislature.  He  lives  very  unostentatiously,  as  becomes  an 
official  whose  salary  is  only  $2,750  a'year.  He  receive-  $250  a  year 
more  than  his  colleagues  in  the  federal  council.  Switzerland  has  no 
executive  man-ion  and  the  president  lives  in  a  modest  hotel. 

Three  languages  are  spoken  in  Switzerland — French,  German, 
Italian.  French  prevails  in  the  region  about  Geneva,  German  in  and 
north  of  Berne  and  Italian  at  the  southeast  near  the  Italian  border. 
German  is,  perhaps,  dominant,  if  any  one  tongue  can  be  said  to  domi- 
nate, with  French  and  Italian  following  in  the  order  named.  The 
debates  in  the  federal  legislature  are  conducted  in  the  three  tongues, 
and  are  reported  therein  officially.  No  attempt  is  made  to  interfere 
with  the  teaching  of  the  language  that  each  of  the  three  communities 
desires,  the  cantons  being  independent  in  matters  of  local  legislation, 
just  as  are  the  states  in  our  country.  There  seems  to  be  no  jealousy  or 
enmity  between  the  different  sections  except  to  the  extent  of  a  health- 
ful rivalry  between  them.  The  feeling  of  independence,  however,  is  so 
strong  that  no  federal  government  could  exist  without  a  clear  recogni- 
tion of  the  rights  of  the  component  states  or  cantons. 

As  a  nation,  Switzerland,  with  her  five  million  people,  does  not  at- 
tract the  attention  that  neighboring  nations  do,  and  in  a  contest  at 
arms,  except  upon  her  own  soil,  she  could  not  hope  to  achieve  much, 
but  in  that  high  form  where  conscience  dictates  and  where  reason 
rules  she  is  a  conspicuous  member  of  the  sisterhood  of  nations.  If  we 
believe  the  world  to  be  making  progress  toward  nobler  national  ideals, 
we  may  expect  Switzerland  to  occupy  a  position  of  increasing  impor- 
tance, for  the  love  of  liberty  that  characterizes  her  people,  the  demo- 
cratic character  of  her  institutions  and  the  industry  of  her  citizens  all 
combine  to  give  her  assurance  of  increasing  prestige. 

I  cannot  refrain  here  from  giving  expression  to  a  thought  that  has 
grown  upon  me  since  my  arrival  in  Europe.    I  found  our  ambassador 


524  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

to  England,  Mr.  Choate,  preparing  to  leave  his  residence  in  Carlton 
House  Terrace,  London,  because  of  the  prospective  return  of  its 
owner,  Lord  Curzon,  from  India.  I  learned  that  our  ambassador-  to 
Prance  have  often  found  difficulty  in  finding  suitable  houses  in  Paris, 
while  I  found  that  our  minister  to  Switzerland,  Mr.  Hill,  is  living  in 
Geneva  because  he  has  not  been  able  thus  far  to  find  a  residence  in 
Berne,  the  capital.  I  was  also  informed  that  our  ambassador  to  Italy, 
Mr.  Meyer,  was  compelled  to  live  in  a  hotel  in  Rome  for  a  year  after 
his  appointment,  because  he  was  unable  to  find  a  suitable  house  for 
the  embassy.  The  trials  of  our  diplomatic  representatives  in  Europe, 
together  with  the  high  rents  they  are  compelled  to  pay  for  their  resi- 
dence-, have  convinced  me  that  we  as  a  people  are  at  fault  in  not  pro- 
viding permanent  and  appropriate  domiciles  for  our  ambassadors  and 
ministers  at  foreign  capitals.  In  the  great  cities  of  Europe  it  is  not 
only  impossible  to  rent  at  a  moderate  price  a  house  suitable  for  our 
embassv.  but  it  is  often  difficult  to  secure  a  convenient  location  at  anv 
price.  It  is  scarcely  democratic  to  place  upon  an  official  an  expense  so 
great  as  to  ju*eclude  the  appointment  of  a  man  of  moderate  means ;  nor 
does  it  comport  with  the  dignity  of  our  nation  to  make  the  choice  of 
an  ambassadorial  or  ministerial  residence  dependent  upon  chance  and 
circumstance.  I  have  been  pleased  to  observe  that  our  representatives 
in  Europe  are  conspicuous  in  the  diplomatic  circle  at  court  functions 
because  of  their  modest  attire,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  our 
ambassadors'  and  ministers'  homes  should  be  on  wheels  in*  order  to 
be  democratic.  I  believe  that  our  government  ought  to  inaugurate  a 
new  policy  in  this  matter  and  build  up  in  the  chief  capitals  of  foreign 
nations  on  land  convenient  to  the  foreign  office  buildings  suitable  in 
every  way  for  the  residences  and  offices  of  our  diplomatic  represen- 
tatives. Such  buildings  constructed  according  to  a  characteristic 
American  style  of  architecture  and  furnished  like  an  American  home 
would  not  only  give  to  our  representative  a  fixed  habitation,  but  would 
exhibit  to  the  people  of  the  country  in  which  he  is  accredited  the 
American  manner  of  living.  The  records  of  the  embassy  could  be 
kept  more  safely  in  permanent  quarters. 

As  real  estate  in  all  the  capitals  of  Europe  is  rapidly  rising  in  value, 
land  purchased  now  would  become  a  profitable  investment  and  the 
rent  estimated  on  the  purchase  price  would  be  a  great  deal  less  than 
will  have  to  be  paid  twenty  or  fifty  years  from  now  for  a  suitable  site 
and  building-  conveniently  located.  It  is  not  wise  to  confine  our 
diplomatic  representation  to  the  circle  of  the  wealthy,  and  it  is  much 
better  to  furnish  our  ambassadors  and  ministers  with  residences  than  to 
increase  their  -alaries. 


CHAPTEE  LII. 

THREE  LITTLE  KINGDOMS. 

I  shall  treat  in  this  article  of  my  visit  to  three  little  kingdoms  in  the 
north  of  Europe — Denmark,  Belgium  and  The  Netherlands. 

I  passed  through  the  edge  of  Sweden  on  my  way  from  Berlin  to 
Copenhagen  and  was  at  Malum  a  short  time;  but,  as  it  was  Christinas 
day  and  early  in  the  morning,  few  store-  were  open,  and  I  did  not  have 
an  opportunity  to  see  many  people.  I  had  intended  to  visit  Stockholm, 
the  capital  of  Sweden,  but  a  day's  delay  in  Russia  deprived  me  of  that 
pleasure. 

Copenhagen  is  not  only  the  capital  of  Denmark,  but  its  commercial 
metropolis  as  well.  The  city  has  the  air  of  a  seaport.  The  canal  leading 
from  the  harbor  up  to  the  center  of  the  town  was  crowded  with  boats 
which  had  taken  up  their  winter  quarters,  and  the  multitude  of  masts 
told  of  the  numbers  of  those  who  live  upon  the  ocean. 

Denmark  is  "a  densely  populated  country  composed  of  the  Jutland 
peninsula  and  a  number  of  islands.  The  land  is  for  the  most  part  .level 
and  not  much  above  the  sea.  The  farmers  of  Denmark  have  distin- 
guished themselves  in  several  departments  of  agriculture,  especially  in 
butter-making — Danish  butter  commanding  the  highest  price  in  Lon- 
don and  other  large  markets. 

Copenhagen  has  some  very  substantial  buildings  and  an  art  gallery  in 
which  the  works  of  Thorwaldsen,  the  sculptor,  occupy  the  chief  place. 

The  people  of  Denmark,  while  living  under  an  hereditary  monarch, 
have  a  written  constitution,  and  parliament  is  the  controlling  influence 
in  the  government.  Until  recently,  the  sovereign  insisted  upon  selecting 
his  cabinet  ministers  to  suit  himself;  but,  about  three  years  ago,  he 
yielded  to  the  demand  of  parliament  that  the  dominant  party  in  that 
body  be  permitted  to  furnish  the  king's  advisers.  The  change  has 
proven  so  satisfactory  that  perfect  harmony  now  exists  between  the 
royal  family  and  the  legislative  body. 

King  Christian  is  advanced  in  years  and  is  so  beloved  by  his  people 
that  he  goes  among  them  without  attendants  or  guards. 

The  heir  to  the  throne  of  Denmark,  Prince  Frederick,  upon  whom, 
by  the  courtesy  of  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Swensen,  I  was  able  to 
call  on  Christmas  afternoon,  is  very  democratic  in  his  manner,  and  very 
cordial  in  his  friendship  for  America. 

525 


526 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


If  mariying  daughters  to  crowned  heads  is  a  test,  the  late  Queen 
of  Denmark  was  a  very  successful  mother.  One  of  her  daughters  is 
mother  of  the  present  emperor  of  Russia,  another  is  wife  of  the  present 
king  of  England,  and  a  third  is  married  to  one  of  the  smaller  kings  of 
Germany.   A  son,  it  may  be  added,  is  king  of  Greece. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  prime  minister  and  also  Professor 
Matzen,  the  president  of  the  state  university  and  Denmark's  member  of 
The  Hague  tribunal.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  opponents  of  the 
transfer  of  the  Danish  islands  to  the  United  States. 

I  learned  while  in  Denmark  that  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the  op- 
position to  the  sale  of  the  Danish  islands  to  the  LTnited  States  was  the 


gpa 

sP*7 

aw" 

*1 

jflft 

mm 

ptMmB 

*4 

t^ 

^W 

sflr 

KING    CHRISTIAN    AND    WIFE. 


fact  that  the  United  States  did  not  guarantee  full  citizenship  to  the 
inhabitants  of  those  islands.  The  nation's  conduct  elsewhere  prevented 
this.  Our  refusal  to  give  the  Porto  Ricans  and  the  Filipinos  the  pro- 
tection of  the  constitution  is  largely  to  blame  for  the  loss  of  the  Danish 
islands  to  our  country. 

The  Danish  officials  whom  I  met  were  deeply  interested  in  the  United 
States,  and  naturally  so,  for,  like  Sweden  and  Norway,  Denmark  has 
sent  many  sons  and  daughters  to  the  United  States ;  and  these,  as  have 
the  Swedes  and  Norwegians,  have  deported  themselves  so  well  as  to 
establish  close  ties  between  the  mother  countries  and  their  adopted  land. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

BELGIUM. 

Belgium  is  a  busy  hive.  Its  people  are  crowded  together  and  are  very 
industrious.  The  farmers  and  truck  gardeners  have  reduced  agriculture 
to  a  fine  art  and  the  lace  workers  are  famous  for  their  skill. 

Nowhere  did  I  see  man's  faithful  friend,  the  dog,  utilized  as  in  Bel- 
gium. He  helps  to  haul  the  carts  along  the  streets,  and  his  services  are 
so  highly  prized  that  large  dogs  are  untaxed,  while  the  small  house  dog, 
being  an  idler,  has  to  contribute  his  annual  quota  to  the  expenses  of  the 
government. 


PALACE     OF     JUSTICE BELGIUM 

The  elegance  of  some  of  the  public  buildings  and  the  beauty  of  the 
streets  of  Brussels  surprise  one,  if  he  has  allowed  himself  to  judge  Bel- 
gium by  her  dimensions  on  the  map.  Historical  interest,  however,  is 
centered,  not  in  Brussels,  but  in  the  battlefield  of  Waterloo,  some  miles 
away.  In  the  summer  time,  thousands  of  tourists  (among  whom,  accord- 
ing to  the  guides,  are  but  few  Frenchmen)  turn  their  steps  toward  this 
field  which  witnessed  the  overthrow  of  the  greatest  military  genius  of 
his  generation,  if  not  of  all  time. 

The  scene  of  carnage  is  now  marked  by  an  enormous  artificial  mound 
130  feet  in  height  and  surmounted  by  an  immense  stone  lion — the  Lion 

527 


528  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

of  Waterloo.  The  animal  looks  toward  the  point  from  which  Napoleon 
made  his  last  charge  and  seems  to  be  watching  lest  the  attack  may  be 
renewed.  Wellington  upon  visiting  the  battlefield  after  the  erection  of 
this  mound,  is  said  to  have  complained  that  they  had  ruined  the  battle- 
field to  secure  drrt  for  this  stupendous  pile,  and  it  is  true  that  the  surface 
of  the  earth  in  that  vicinity  has  been  very  much  altered.  In  leveling 
the  knolls  they  have  destroyed  one  of  the  most  interesting  landmarks 
of  the  battlefield — the  sunken  road  in  which  so  many  of  the  French 
soldiers  lost  their  lives.  As  the  guide  tells  it,  Napoleon  asked  a  Belgian 
peasant  if  there  was  any  ravine  to  be  crossed  between  him  and  the 
enemy's  lines,  and  the  peasant  replied  in  the  negative;  but  when  the 
French  rushed  over  this  knoll,  they  came  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
upon  a  narrow  road  in  a  cut  about  twrenty  feet  deep,  and,  falling  in, 
filled  up  the  cut  until  succeeding  ranks  crossed  over  on  their  dead 
bodies. 

The  field,  as  a  whole,  might  be  described  as  a  rolling  prairie,  although 
the  visitor  is  told  of  groves  no  longer  standing.  At  the  Hugomond  farm, 
the  walls  of  the  house  bear  evidence  of  the  conflict  that  raged,  nearly  a 
century  ago,  and  one  is  shown  the  ruins  of  an  old  wTell  in  which,  it  is 
said,  the  bodies  of  300  English  soldiers  were  buried.  This  portion  of  the 
battlefield  reminds  one  somewThat  of  that  portion  of  the  battlefield  of 
Gettysburg  which  was  made  famous  .by  Pickett's  charge,  although  there 
are  but  few  monuments  at  Waterloo  to  mark  the  places  occupied  by  the 
various  brigades  and  divisions. 

At  a  restaurant  near  the  mound  one  is  shown  the  chair  in  which, 
according  to  tradition,  Wellington  sat  when  he  was  laying  his  plans'  for 
the  lasl  day's  battle,  and  you  can,  for  a  franc  each,  secure  bullets  war- 
ranted to  have  been  found  upon  the  field.  It  is  rumored,  however,  that 
some  of  the  bullets  now7  found  are  of  modern  make  and  that  thrifty 
peasants  sow  them  as  they  do  grain,  and  gather  them  for  the  benefit 
of  tourists. 

I  found  Europe  agitated  by  a  remark  recently  made  by  the  emperor 
of  Germany  which  gave  the  Prussian  troops  credit  for  saving  the  Eng- 
lish and  winning  the  day,  but  the  French  are  as  quick  to  dispute  this 
claim  as  the  English.  The  comedians  have  taken  the  matter  up  in  the 
British  Isles,  and,  at  one  London  theatre,  an  actor  dressed  as  an  Eng- 
lishman, is  made  to  meet  a  German  and,  after  an  exchange  of  compli- 
ments, the  English  brings  down  the  house  by  saying:  "I  beg  pardon! 
It.  may  be  a  little  laic  bul  lei  me  thank  you  for  saving- us  at  Waterloo." 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  for  the  allies  to  quarrel  over  the  division  of 
credit.  There  was  glory  enough  for  all — and  it,  required  the  co-operation 
of  all  to  overcome  the  genius  and  the  strategy  of  Bonaparte. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

THE   NETHERLANDS. 

Between  Waterloo,  one  of  the  world's  most  renowned  battlefields,  and 
The  Hague,  which  is  to  be  the  home  of  the  Temple  of  Peace — what  a 
contrast;  and  yet  Belgium  and  The  Netherlands  lie  side  by  side!  Per- 
haps the  contrast  is  chronological  rather  than  geographical  or  racial,  for 
the  Dutch  have  had  their  share  of  fighting  on  their  own  soil,  as  they 
had  their  part  in  the  victory  of  1815.    It  seems  especially  appropriate 


"izmp^flti 


•■JBBBH  A  J[ -.  -M4af"""*»lr 


"*>""<*•**!■*, 


toad-::  te; 


THE     HAGUE 


that  The  Hague  should  be  chosen  as  the  permanent  meeting  place  of  the 
peace  tribunal,  for  it  is  not  only  centrally  located  for  European  coun- 
tries, and,  being  small,  is  not  itself  tempted  to  appeal  to  arms,  but  it  has 
long  been  the  home  of  religious  liberty,  and  its  people  were  pioneers  in 
the  defense  of  the  doctrine  that  rulers  exist  for  the  poople,  not  the 
people  for  the  rulers. 

The  capital  of  The  Netherlands — The  Hague — (the  name  is  taken 
from  the  forest  that  adjoins)  is  a  beautiful  little  city  and  will  furnish 
an  appropriate  setting  for  the  building  which  Mr.  Carnegie's  generosity 
is  to  provide.   Plans  are  already  being  prepared  for  this  structure,  and 

529 


530 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


one  of  the  officials  .showed  me  a  picture  representing  Peace,  which  may- 
be reproduced  upon  the  ceiling  or  walls. 

In  the  gallery  at  .Moscow  1  saw  a  painting  by  the  great  Russian 
artist.  Vereshchagin.  It  is  a  pyramid  of  whitened  skulls  standing  out 
against  a  dark  background,  and  is  dedicated  to  "The  Warriors  of  the 
"World."  It  tells  the  whole  story  of  war  in  so  solemn,  impressive,  and 
terrible  a  way  that  Yon  Moltke  is  said  to  have  issued  an  order  prohibit- 
ing German  officers  from  looking  at  it  when  it  was  exhibited  at  Berlin. 

The  emperor  of  Russia,  who  has  the  distinction  and  the  honor  of 
having  called  together  the  conference  which  resulted  in  The  Hague 


THE    MARKET    PLA<  E    AT    AMSTERDAM. 


tribunal",  might  with  great  propriety  contribute  to  the  Temple  of  Peace 
this  masterpiece  of  one  of  his  countrymen,  portraying  so  vividly  the 
evils  which  arbitration  is  intended  to  remedy. 

One  of  the  members  of  the  arbitration  court  told  me  that  it  was  both 
interesting  and  instructive  to  note  how  the  nations  appearing  before 
that  court  emphasized,  not  so  much  their  pecuniary  claims,  as  the  honor 
of  their  respective  nations  and  the  justice  of  their  acts. 

No  one  can  foresee  or  foretell  how  great  an  influence  The  Hague 
tribunal  will  have  upon  the  world's  affairs,  but  it  would  seem  difficult 


THE    NETHERLANDS 


531 


to  exaggerate  it.  It  is  cultivating  a  public  opinion  which  will  in  time 
coerce  the  nations  into  substituting  arbitration  for  violence  in  the  settle- 
ment of  international  disputes;  and  it  ought  to  be  a  matter  of  gratifica- 
tion to  every  American  that  our  country  is  taking  so  active  a  part  in  the 
forwarding  of  the  movement. 

But  The  Hague  is  not  the  only  place  of  interest  in  The  Netherlands. 
The  land  replcvined  from  the  sea  by  the  sturdy  Dutch  and  protected  by 
dykes,  the  spot  immortalized  by  the  temporary  sojourn  of  the  Pilgrims, 
the  familiar  blue  china,  the  huge  wind  mills  with  their  deliberate  move- 
ments, the  wooden 
shoes,  and  the  nu- 
merous waterways — 
all  these  attract,  the 
attention  of  the  tour- 
ist. 

And  the  commer- 
cial metropolis  of 
Holland,  —  Amster- 
dam— what  a  quaint 
old  city  it  is!  Its 
more  than  three 
h  u  n  d  r  e  d  canals 
roaming  their  way 
through  the  city, 
and  its  hundreds  of 
bridges,  have  given 
to  'it  the  name  of 
"The  Northern  Yen- 
ice,"  and  it  well  de- 
serves the  appella- 
tion. The  houses 
are  built  on  piles, 
and  as  many  of  them 
are  settling,  they  lean  in  every  direction,  some  out  toward  the  street, 
some  back,  and  some  toward  the  side.  The  houses  are  so  dependent 
upon  each  other  for  support,  it  is  a  common  saying  in  that  city 
that  if  you  want  to  injure  your  neighbor,  you  have  only  to  pull  down 
your  owrn  house. 

Amsterdam  is  the  center  of  the  diamond  cutting  industry  of  the 
world,  more  than  ten  thousand  hands  being  employed  in  that  work.  As 
is  well  known,  the  Dutch  are  a  rich  people,  and  their  commerce,  like 
their  mortgages,  can  be  found  everywhere. 


A   NETHERLANDS    STATESMAN. 


532 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


They  have  a  constitutional  monarchy,  but  they  have  universal  educa- 
tion and  parliamentary  government,  and  are  jealous  of  their  political 
rights. 

Denmark,  Belgium  and  The  Netherlands — three  little  kingdoms! 
Small  in  area,  but  brimful  of  people,  and  these  people  have  their  part 
in  the  solving  of  problems  with  which  Europe  is  now  grappling. 


A  DUTCH  WINDMILL. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

GERMANY  AND  SOCIALISM. 

At  Berlin  I  found,  a.s  I  had  at  London  and  Paris,  a  considerable 
nun  liter  of  Americans  and,  as  in  the  other  cities,  they  have  organized  a 
society,  the  object  of  which  is  to  bring  the  American  residents  together 
for  friendly  intercourse.  At  London  the  group  is  known  as  the  Amer- 
ican Society;  ;it  Paris  and  Berlin  the  society  is  known  as  the  American 


THE  REICHSTAG 


Chamber  of  Commerce.  Through  the  receptions  given  by  these  socie- 
ties I  was  able  to  meet  not  only  the  leading  American  residents,  but 
many  foreigners  who  came  as  invited  guests.  Our  American  residents  are 
evidently  conducting  themselves  well,  because  I  found  that  they  are  well 
liked  by  the  people  among  whom  they  are  temporarily  sojourning.    I 

533 


534 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


am  indebted  to  Ambassador  Tower  and  to  the  American  Chamber  of 
Commerce  for  courtesies  extended  me  at  Berlin. 

My  visit  to  Germany  occurred  at  Christmas  time  and  while  it  was  for 
that  reason  impossible  to  see  the  kaiser  (much  to  my  regret),  I  learned 
something  of  the  German  method  of  observing  the  great  Christian  holi- 
day. The  German  is  essentially  a  domestic  man  and  at  Christmas  time 
especially  gives  himself  up  to  the  society  of  the  family,  relatives  and 
friends.  Christmas  coming  on  Friday,  the  festivities  covered  three  days, 
Friday,  Saturday  and  Sunday.  The  toys — in  which  Germany  abounds 
— were  of  endless  variety,  and  the  Christmas  trees,  bending  beneath 
their  load,  were  centers  of  interest  to  the  young  folks.  There  were  dolls 
and  dogs,  horses  and  woolly  sheep,  cows  that  give  milk,  and  soldiers — 


LEIPSIC  UNIVERSITY. 


an  abundance  of  soldiers.  I  saw  one  cavalry  man  with  a  saber  in  his 
hand.  When  he  was  wound  up,  the  horse  would  rush  forward  and  the 
rider  would  strike  with  his  saber,  as  if  he  were  keeping  watch  on  the 
Rhine  and  in  the  very  act  of  resisting  an  attack  from  the  enemy.  A 
little  strange  that  the  birthday  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  should  be  cele- 
brated by  the  presentation  of  toys  illustrating  mimic  warfare !  But,  as  in 
America  we  are  increasing  our  army  and  enlarging  our  navy,  we  are 
not  in  a  very  good  position  to  take  the  military  mote  out  of  the  eye  of 
our  friends  in  the  fatherland. 

Berlin  is  a  splendid  city  with  beautiful  streets,  parks  and  public 
buildings.  It  is  more  modern  in  appearance  than  either  London  or 
Paris,  and  there  is  a  solidity  and  substantialness  about  the  population 


GERMANY    AND    SOCIALISM  535 

that  explain  the  character  of  the  emigration  from  Germany  to  America. 

No  one  can  look  upon  a  gathering  of  average  Germans  without  recog- 
nizing that  he  is  in  the  presence  of  a  strong,  intelligent  and  masterful 
people.  Bismarck  has  left  his  impress  upon  Germany  as  Napoleon  did 
upon  France.  An  heroic  statue  of  the  man  of  ''blood  and  iron"  stands 
between  the  reichstag  and  the  column  of  Victory,  which  was  erected  at 
the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  The  reichstag  is  a  massive  but 
graceful  structure,  built  some  twenty  years  ago.  In  one  of  the  corridors 
I  noticed  a  silk  Hag  which  was  presented  in  the  seventies  by  the  German 
women  of  America,  The  reichstag  proper  is  a  popular  body,  much  like 
the  English  parliament,  and,  as  in  England,  the  members  do  not  neces- 
sarily reside  in  the  districts  they  represent.  The  upper  house  or  bundes- 
rath,  is  somewhat  like  our  senate  in  one  respect,  namely,  that  it  repre- 
sents the  various  states  that  comprise  the  German  empire,  but  it  differs 
from  our  senate,  first,  in  that  the  subdivisions  are  represented  somewhat 
in  proportion  to  population,  and,  second,  in  that  the  members  of  the 
bundesrath  are  really  ambassadors  of  the  several  state  governments 
whose  credentials  can  be  withdrawn  at  any  time.  As  all  legislation  must 
be  concurred  in  by  the  bundesrath,  as  well  as  by  the  reichstag,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the-German  government  is  not  nearly  so  responsive  to  the 
will  of  the  people  as  the  governments  of  England,  Denmark  and  the 
Netherlands. 

In  the. reichstag  they  have  resorted  to  a  device  for  saving  time  in  roll 
call.  Each  member  is  supplied  with  a  quantity  of  tickets,  some  pink  and 
some  white.  Each  ticket  bears  on  both  sides  the  name  of  the  member. 
On  the  white  tickets  the  word  "Ja"  (yes)  appears  under  the  name,  on 
the  pink  ones  "Nein"  (no).  These  ballots  are  gathered  up  in  vases  con- 
taining two  receptacles,  one  white  and  the  other  pink.  The  vases  are 
carried  through  the  hall  and  the  votes  deposited  according  to  color.  As 
they  are  deposited  in  the  different  receptacles  and  are  distinguished  by 
color,  the  ballot  is  quickly  taken  and  counted — in  about  one-fourth  the 
time,  I  think,  formerly  required  for  roll  call.  This  is  a  method  which 
our  congress  might  find  it  convenient  to  adopt. 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  while  in  Berlin,  to  meet  Dr.  Otto  Arendt,  the 
leading  bimetallic  of  Germany.  He  became  a  student  of  the  money 
question  while  in  college,  being  converted  to  the  double  standard  by  the 
writings  of  Cernucshi,  the  great  French  economist.  Dr.  Arendt  is  a 
member  of  the  reichstag,  from  one  of  the  agricultural  constituencies. 
He  has  represented  his  government  in  international  conferences  and 
has  urged  his  government  to  join  in  an  agreement  to  restore  bimetal- 
lism, but,  like  oilier  advocates  of  the  double  standard,  has  found  the 
English  financiers  an  immovable  obstruction  in  the  way. 


i— ' 

k 

w 

K 


GERMANY   AND    SOCIALISM  537 

I  have  for  two  reasons  reserved  for  this  article  some  comments  on  the 
growth  of  socialism  in  Europe.  First,  because  Germany  was  to  be  tin- 
test  of  the  larger  countries  visited,  and,  second,  because  socialism  seemi 
to  be  growing  more  rapidly  in  Germany  than  anywhere  else.  I  find  that 
nearly  all  the  European  nations  have  carried  collective  ownership  far- 
ther than  we  have  in  the  United  States.  In  a  former  article,  reference 
has  already  been  made  to  the  growth  of  municipal  ownership  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  and  1  may  add  that  where  the  private  ownership  of 
public  utilities  is  still  permitted  the  regulation  of  the  corporations  hold- 
ing these  franchises  is  generally  more  strict  than  in  the  United  States. 
Let  two  illustrations  suffice:  Where  parliament  charters  gas  and  water 
companies  in  cities,  it  has  for  some  years  been  the  practice  to  limit  tin- 
dividends  that  can  be  earned — any  surplus  earnings  over  and  above  tin- 
dividends  allowed  must  be  used  in  reducing  the  price  paid  by  the  con- 
sumer. I  fear  that  our  money  magnates  would  be  at  a  loss  to  find  words 
"to  express  their  indignation  if  any  such  restriction  were  suggested  in 
America,  and  yet  is  it  not  a  just  and  reasonable  restriction? 

In  the  case  of  railroads,  I  noticed  that  there  are  in  England  but  few 
grade  (or,  as  they  call  them,  "level")  crossings.  I  am  informed  that 
railroad  accidents  and  injuries  are  not  so  frequent  in  England  as  in  the 
United  States. 

In  Switzerland  the  government  has  recently  acquired  the  principal 
railroad  systems.  In  Holland,  Belgium  and  Denmark  also  the  railroads 
are  largely  government  roads.  In  Russia  the  government  owns  and  op- 
erates the  roads  and  I  found  there  a  new  form  of  collectivism,  namely, 
the  employment  of  a  community  physician,  who  treat-  the  people  with- 
out charge.  These  physicians  are  employed  by  societies  called  Zemstro, 
which  have  control  of  the  roads  and  the  care  of  the  sick. 

In  Germany,  however,  socialism  as  an  economic  theory  is  being  urged 
by  a  strong  and  growing  party.  In  the  last  general  election  the  social- 
ists polled  a  little  more  than  three  million  votes  out  of  a  total  of  about 
nine  and  a  half  millions.  Measured  by  the  popular  vote  it  is  now  the 
strongest  party  in  Germany.  The  fact  that  with  thirty-one  per  cent  of 
the  vote  it  only  has  eighty-one  members  of  the  reichstag  out  of  a  total 
of  397  is  due,  in  part,  to  the  fact  that  the  socialist  vote  is  massed  in  the 
cities  and,  in  part,  to  the  fact  that  the  population  has  increased  more 
rapidly  in  the  cities,  and,  as  there  has  been  no  recent  redisricting,  the 
socialist  city  districts'  are  larger  than  the  districts  returning  members  of 
other  parties. 

George  von  Vollmar,  a  member  of  the  reichstag,  in  a  recent  issue  of 
the  National  Review  thus  states  the  general  purpose  of  the  social  demo- 
cratic party  in  Germany: 


538 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


"It  is  well  known  that  social  democracy  in  all  countries,  as  its  name 
indicates,  aims  in  the  first  place  at  social  and  economic  reform.  It 
starts  from  the  point  of  view  that  economic  development,  the  substitu- 
tion of  machinery  for  hand  implements,  and  the  supplanting  of  small 
factories  by  gigantic  industrial  combinations,  deprive  the  worker  in  an 
ever  increasing  degree  of  the  essential  means  of  production,  thereby 
converting  him  into  a  possessionless  proletarian,  and  that  the  means  of 
production  are  becoming  the  exclusive  possession  of  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  capital- 
ists, who  constantly  mon- 
opolize  all  the  advantages 
which  the  gigantic  in- 
crease in  the  productive 
capacity  of  human  effort 
has  brought  about.  Thus, 
according  to  the  social 
democrats,  capital  is  mas- 
ter of  all  the  springs  of 
life,  and  lays  a  yoke  on 
the  working  classes  in 
particular,  and  the  whole 
population  in  general, 
which  ever  becomes  more 
a  n  d  more  unbearable. 
The  masses,  as  their  in- 
sight '  into  the  general 
trend  of  affairs  develops, 
become  daily  more  and 
more  conscious  of  the  con- 
trast between  the  exploit- 
er and  the  exploited,  and 
in  all  countries  with  an 
industrial  d  e  v  e  1  opment 
society  is  divided  into  two 
hostile  camps,  which  wage 
war  on  each  other  with 
ever  increasing  bitterness. 

"To  this  class-war  is  due  the  origin  and  continuous  development  of 
social  democracy,  the  chief  task  of  which  is  to  unite  these  factions  in  an 
harmonious  whole  which  they  will  direct  to  its  true  goal.  Industrial 
combination  on  a  large  scale  can  be  converted  from  a  source  of  misery 
and  oppression  into  a  source  of  the  greatest  prosperity  and  of  harmoni- 


KAISER    WILHELM. 


GERMANY    AND    SOCIALISM  539 

ous  perfection,  when  the  means  of  production  cease  to  be  the  exclusive 
appanage  of  capital  and  are  transferred  to  the  hands  of  society  at  large. 
The  social  revolution  here  indicated  implies  the  liberation  not  only  of 
the  proletariat,  but  of  mankind  as  a  whole,  which  sutlers  from  the  de- 
composing influence  of  existing  class  antagonism  whereby  all  social 
progress  is  crippled." 

One  of  the  most  influential  of  the  German  socialists,  in  answer  to  a 
series  of  questions  submitted  by  me,  said  in  substance: 

First,  the  general  aim  of  socialists  in  Germany  is  the  same  as  the  aim 
of  other  socialists  throughout  the  world — oamely,  the  establishment  of 
a  collective  commonwealth  based  on  democratic  equality. 

Second,  the  socialists  of  Germany  have  organized  a  liberal  party  of 
unrivaled  strength;  they  have  educated  the  working  classes  to  a  very 
high  standard  of  political  intelligence  and  to  a  strong  sense  of  their 
independence  and  of  their  social  mission,  as  the  living  and  progressive 
force  in  every  social  respect;  they  have  promoted  the  organization  of 
trade  unions;  and  have  by  their  incessant  agitation  compelled  the  other 
parties  and  the  government  to  take  up  social  and  labor  legislation. 

Third,  German  socialists  al  present  are  contending  for  a  legal  eight- 
hour  day  and  for  the  creation  of  a  labor  department  in  the  government, 
with  labor  officers  and  labor  chambers  throughout  the  country.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  special  reforms,  socialists  are  urging  various  constitutional 
and  democratic  reforms  in  the  states  and  municipalities — in  the  latter 
housing  reforms,  direct  employment  of  labor,  etc. 

Fourth,  there  may  be  some  difference  of  opinion  among  socialists  in 
regard  to  the  competitive  system,  but,  being  scientific  evolutionists,  they 
all  agree  that  competition  was  at  one  time  a  great  step  in  advance  and 
acted  for  generations  as  a  social  lever  of  industrial  progress,  but  they 
believe  that  it  has  many  evil  consequences  and  that  it  is  now  being  out- 
grown by  capitalistic  concerns,  whose  power  to  oppress  has  become  a 
real  danger  to  the  community.  They  contend  that  there  is  not  much 
competition  left  with  these  monopolies  and  that  as,  on  the  other  hand, 
education  and  the  sense  of  civic  responsibility  are  visibly  growing,  and 
will  grow  more  rapidly  when  socialism  gets  hold  of  the  public  mind, 
socialists  think  that  the  time  is  approaching  when  all  monopolies  must 
and  can  safely  be  taken  over  by  the  state  or  municipality  as  the  case 
may  be.  This  would  not  destroy  all  competition  at  once — in  industries 
not  centralized  some  competition  might  continue  to  exist.  In  this  re- 
spect, also,  all  socialists  are  evolutionists,  however  they  may  differ  as  to 
ways  and  means  and  political  methods. 

Fifth,  as  to  the  line  between  what  are  called  natural  monopolies  and 
ordinary  industries,  the  question  is  partly  answered  by  the  preceding 


GERMANY  AND    SOCIALISM  541 

paragraph.  There  is  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  thai  natural  monop- 
olies should,  in  any  case,  be  owned  by  the  community. 

I  find  that  even  in  Germany  there  are  degrees  among  socialists — some 
like  Babel  and  Singer  emphasizing  the  ultimate  ends  of  socialism,  while 
others  led  by  Bernstein  are  what  might  be  called  progressionists  or  op- 
portunists— that  is,  they  are  willing  to  take  the  best  they  can  get  to-day 
and  from  that  vantage  ground  press  on  to  something  better.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  socialists  of  Germany  are  securing  reforms,  but  so  far  they 
are  reforms  which  have  either  already  been  secured  in  other  countries 
or  are  advocated  elsewhere  by  other  parties  as  well  as  by  the  socialist 
party. 

The  whole  question  of  socialism  hangs  upon  the  question :  Is  compe- 
tition an  evil  or  a  good?  If  it  is  an  evil,  then  monopolies  are  right  and 
we  have  only  to  decide  whether  the  monoplies  should  be  owned  by  tin' 
state  or  by  private  individuals.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  competition  is 
good,  then  it  should  be  restored  where  it  can  be  restored.  In  the  case  of 
natural  monopolies,  where  it  is  impossible  for  competition  to  exist,  the 
government  would  administer  the  monopolies,  not  on  the  ground  that 
competition  is  undesirable,  but  on  the  ground  that  in  such  cases  it  is 
impossible. 

Those  who  believe  that  the  right  is  sure  of  ultimate  triumph  will 
watch  the  struggle  in  Germany  and  profit  by  the  lessons  taught.  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that  political  considerations  are  so  mingled  with  eco- 
nomic theories  that  it  is  difficult  as  yet  to  know  just  what  proportion  of 
the  three  million  socialist  voters  believe  in  "the  government  ownership 
and  operation  of  all  the  means  of  production  and  distribution."  The  old 
age  pension  act  was  given  as  a  sop  to  the  socialists,  but  it  strengthened 
rather  than  weakened  their  contentions  and  their  party.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  the  new  concessions  which  they  seem  likely  to  secure  will 
still  further  augment  their  strength.  The  Germans  are  a  studious  and  a 
thoughtful  people  and  just  now  they  are  absorbed  in  the  consideration 
of  the  aims  and  methods  of  the  socialist  movement  (mingled  with  a 
greater  or  less  amount  of  governmental  reform),  and  the  world  awaits 
their  verdict  with  deep  interest. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 
RUSSIA  AND  HER  CZAR. 

The  map  of  Russia  makes  the  other  nations  of  Europe  look  insig- 
nificant by  comparison.  Moscow  is  called  "The  Heart  of  Russia," 
and  yet  the  trans-Siberian  railway  from  Moscow  to  Vladivostok  is 
about  6,000  miles  long,  nearly  one-fourth  the  circumference  of  the 
globe.  From  St.  Petersburg  to  Sebastopol  is  more  than  2,000  miles, 
and  yet  Russia's  territory  extends  much  further  north  than  St.  Peters- 
burg and  much  further  south  than  Sebastopol.  In  a  book  recently 
issued  by  authority  of  the  Russian  government,  some  comparisons 
are  made  that  give  an  idea  of  the  immensity  of  Russia's  domain.  For 
instance,  Siberia  is  about  one  and  one-half  times  as  large  as  Europe, 
25  times  as  large  as  Germany,  and  covers  one-thirteenth  of  the  con- 
tinental surface  of  the  globe.  Besides  having  great  timber  belts  and 
vast  prairies.  Siberia  has  a  hill  and  lake  region  ten  times  as  large  as 
Switzerland,  and  it  is  claimed  that  some  of  the  lakes  are  as  beautiful 
as  those  of  "The  Mountain  Republic."  Lately  the  government  has 
been  encouraging  immigration  into  the  country  opened  up  by  the 
trans-Siberian  railway  and  the  success  of  the  movement  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  number  of  passengers  carried  on  the  western  section 
of  the  road  increased  from  100.000  in  1896  to  379.000  in  1898,  and 
on  the  middle  section  from  177,000  in  1897  to  476,000  in  1898,  with 
a  similar  increase  in  freight  traffic.  The  government  gives  a  -certain 
area  of  land  to  each  settler  and,  when  necessary,  advances  sufficient 
money  to  build  homes  and  barns  for  the  storage  of  crops  and  for  the 
purchase  of  agricultural  implements.  The  territorial  greatness  of 
Russia  is  the  first  thing  that  impresses  the  tourist,  and  the  second  is 
that  it  is  as  yet  so  sparsely  settled  that  it  can  without  fear  of  crowd- 
ing accommodate  a  vast  increase  in  population. 

Russia  embraces  all  varieties  of  climate  and  resources. 

My  journey  was  confined  to  the  northwest  portion.  I  entered  the 
country  below  Warsaw,  went  east  to  Moscow,  then  north  to  St. 
Petersburg  and  thence  southwest  to  Berlin.  This,  with  the  exception 
of  my  visit  to  Tula,  gave  me  my  only  opportunity  to  see  the  people 

542 


RUSSIA    AND    ITER    CZAR 


543 


of  Russia.  They  impressed  me  as  being  a  hardy  race  and  the  neces- 
sities of  climate  are  such  as  to  compel  industry  and  activity.  T  never 
saw  elsewhere  such  universal  preparation  for  cold  weather.  As  yet 
Russia  is  almost  entirely  agricultural,  but  manufacturing  enterprises 

are  continually  increasing.     The  peasants  live  in  villages  and  for  the 
most  part  hold  their  lands  in   common — that    is,  the  land-   lidong  to 


THE  CZAR  OF  RUSSIA 


the  commune  or  village  as  a  whole  and  not  to  the  individual.  When 
Alexander  freed  the  serfs  the  land  was  sold  to  them  jointly  on  long- 
time payments.  These  payments  have  in  only  a  few  instances  been 
completed,  wherefore  not  many  of  the  peasants  own  land  individually. 
There  is  just  now  much  discussion  in  Russia  about  the  method  of 


544  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

holding  land.  Some  contend  that  communal  holding  tends  to  dis- 
courage thrift  and  enterprise,  and  there  is  some  agitation  in  favor  of 
individual  ownership. 

Moscow,  the  largest  city  of  Russia,  has  a  trifle  larger  population 
than  St.  Petersburg,  the  capital,  which  has  more  than  a  million. 
Moscow,  which  is  the  commercial  center  of  the  empire,  gives  the  casual 
visitor  a  much  better  idea  of  the  characteristic  life  and  architecture 
of  Russia  than  does  St.  Petersburg.  St.  Petersburg,  however,  is  laid 
out  upon  a  broader,  more  generous  plan,  has  wider  streets,  more  im- 
pressive public  buildings  and  private  residences,  and  there  is  more 
evidence  of  wealth  in  the  capital  than  in  the  commercial  center.  Both 
cities  possess  admirable  museums  and  art  galleries.  The  chief  gallery 
of  Moscow  devotes  nearly  all  its  wall  space  to  pictures  by  Russian 
artists,  and  they  are  sufficient  in  number  to  prove  Russia's  claim  to  an 
honorable  place  in  the  world  of  art. 

The  Hermitage  at  St.  Petersburg,  which  is  an  annex  of  the  em- 
peror's palace,  contains  an  extraordinary  number  of  masterpieces  of 
modern  and  ancient  art.  The  museum  of  the  •academy  of  sciences 
possesses  a  remarkable  collection  of  fine  specimens;  of  prehistoric 
animals,  among  them  mammoths,  the  largest  and  best  preserved  of 
which  was  found  only  a  few  years  ago  at  the  foot  of  "a  Siberian  glacier. 

The  visitor  to  Russia  comes  away  with  conflicting  emotions.  He  is 
impressed  by  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  the  country,  but  is  op- 
pressed  by  the  limitations  and  restrictions  which  the  government 
places  upon  individual  action  and  activity.  As  soon  as  the  traveler 
reaches  the  border  of  Russia  his  passport  is  demanded.  It  is  again 
demanded  the  moment  he  arrives  at  his  hotel,  and  it  is  demanded 
and  inspected  at  every  place  he  stops.  When  he  is  about  to  leave  the 
country  he  must  send  his  passport  to  the  police  office  and  have  it 
indorsed  with  official  permission  to  depart.  Not  only  is  a  passport 
demanded  at  every  place  from  the  foreigner,  but  native  Russians, 
high  and  low,  must  also  bear  passports  and  be  prepared  to  submit 
them  for  inspection  upon  demand.  Not  even  officers  of  the  army 
are  exempt  from  this  rigid  rule. 

The  censorship  over  the  press  and  over  private  mail  is  very  strict. 
I  brought  away  with  me  a  copy  of  Stead's  Review  of  Reviews  which 
had  been  posted  to  a  .-ub.-criber  in  Russia  and  which  had  passed 
through  the  hands  of  the  censor.  Its  pages  bore  abundant  evidence 
of  the  care  with  which  he  scrutinized  foreign  publications,  for  objec- 
tionable cartoons,  articles  and  even  paragraphs  had  been  made  illeg- 
ible by  an  obliterating  stamp. 


RUSSIA    AND    HER    TZAR  M" 

The  government  of  Russia,  as  the  world  knows,  is  an  autocracy. 
All  power  is  vested  in  the  emperor,  and  all  authority  emanates  from 
him.     Being  an  autocracy,  Russia  has,  of  course,  no  legislative  body, 

such  as  is  now  a  part  of  the  government  of  nearly  every  civilized 
country  on  the  globe.  It  has  not  trial  by  jury  and  it  knows  not  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus.  The  custom  of  exiling  or  banishing,  without, 
trial,  persons  objectionable  to  the  government  is  -till  practiced.  A 
large  number  of  Finns,  many  of  them  persons  of  prominence,  have 
been  deported  from  Finland  since  the  decree  of  1899,  which  limited 
the  -elf  government  which  the  Finns  had  enjoyed  since  Russia  annexed, 
their  country. 

While  in  St.  Petersburg  I  was,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  American  am- 
bassador, Mr.  McCormick,  given  an  opportunity  of  meeting  and  chat- 
ting with  the  czar  of  all  the  Russias,  Emperor  Nicholas  II.  T  found 
him  at  his  winter  residence,  the  palace  of  Tsarskoe  Selo,  which  is 
about  an  hour's  ride  from  St.  Petersburg. 

Of  all  the  emperor's  palaces,  Tsarskoe  Selo  is  his  favorite.  It 
stands  in  a  magnificent  park  which,  at  this  time  of  year,  is  covered  with 
snow.  The  emperor  is  a  young  man,  having  been  horn  in  1868.  He  is 
not  more  than  five  feet  -even  or  eight  inches  in  height,  and  apparently 
weighs  about  100  pounds.  His  figure  is  slender  and  erect,  his  face 
boyish  and  his  eyes  a  light  blue.  His  hair,  which  is  blonde,  is  cut 
lather  short  and  combed  upward  over  the  forehead.  The  czar  wears 
a  mustache  and  short  beard.  The  general  expression  of  his  face  is 
gentle,  rather  than  severe,  and  he  speaks  English  perfectly.  He  in- 
formed me  that  about  65  per  cent  of  the  adult  men  of  Russia  can 
read  and  write  and  that  the  number  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  about 
3  per  cent  a  year.  This  increase,  the  czar  said,  was  shown  by  the 
recruits  to  the  army,  and  as  these  come  from  all  provinces  of  the  em- 
pire and  all  classes  of  society,  he  believes  it  to  he  a  fair  test  of  the 
people  as  a  whole.  The  czar  declare-  himself  deeply  interested  in 
the  spread  of  education  among  the  people  and  seemed  to  realize  that 
opportunities  for  education  should  he  extended  to  men  and  women 
equally.  I  referred  to  a  decree  issued  by  him  about  a  year  ago  promis- 
ing a  measure  of  self-government  to  the  local  communities.  The 
czar  said:  "Yes,  that  was  issued  last  February,  and  the  plan  is  now 
being  worked  out."  He  manifested  great  gratification  at  the  out- 
come of  the  proposals  submitted  by  him,  which  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  The  Hague  court  of  arbitration,  and  it  is  a  movement 
of  which  he  may  justly  feel  proud,  for  while  it  is  not  probable  that 
The  Hague  tribunal  will  at  once  end  all  wars,  it  is  certain  to  con- 


546  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

tribute  largely  to  the  growth  of  a  sentiment  that  will  substitute  the 
reign  of  reason  for  the  rule  of  brute  force.  The  ezar  spoke  warmly 
of  the  friendly  relations  that  have  existed  for  years  between  Rus.-ia 
and  the  United  States.  He  said  that  the  people  of  his  country  had 
rejoiced  in  the  growth  and  greatness  of  the  L'nited  States.  Then. 
-peaking  with  considerable  feeling,  the  czar  said:  "The  attitude  of 
Russia  in  the  Kischineff  affair  has  been  very  much  misrepresented 
by  some  of  the  newspapers  and  I  wish  you  would  tell  your  people  so 
wher  you  return  to  the  United  States." 

The  Russian  officials  deny  that  the  government  was  in  any  way 
responsible  for  the  massacre  and  I  was  informed  that  the  govern- 
ment had  caused  the  prosecution  and  secured  the  imprisonment  of 
many  of  those  implicated.  The  emperor  showed  in  his  conversation 
that  he  respected  public  opinion  in  the  United  States  and  was  anxious 
that  his  administration  should  not  rest  under  condemnation.  It  seems 
to  be  the  general  opinion  of  those  with  whom  I  had  a  chance  to  speak 
in  Russia  that  the  emperor  himself  is  much  more  progressive  and 
liberal  than  his  official  environment.  If  he  were  free  to  act  upon 
his  own  judgment,  it  is  believed  that  he  would  go  further  and  faster 
than  the  officeholding  class  surrounding  him  in  broadening  the  foun- 
dations of  government,  and  from  his  words  and  manner  during  my 
conversation  with  him  I  am  inclined  to  share  this  opinion. 

What  Russia  most  needs  today  are  free  speech  and  a  free  press — 
free  speech  that  those  who  have  the  welfare  of  the  country  at  heart 
may  give  expression  to  their  views  and  contribute  their  wisdom  to 
that  public  opinion  which,  in  all  free  countries,  controls  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  those  who  hold  office.  To  deny  freedom  of  speech  is 
to  question  the  ability  of  truth  to  combat  error;  it  is  to  doubt  the 
power  of  right  to  vindicate  itself.  A  free  press  would  not  only  enable 
those  in  office  to  see  their  actions  as  others  see  them,  but  would  exer- 
cise  a  wholesome  restraint.  Publicity  will  often  deter  an  official  from 
wrong-doing  when  other  restraints  would  be  insufficient,  and  those 
who  are  anxious  to  do  well  ought  to  welcome  anything  that  would 
throw  light  upon  their  path.  With  free  speech  and  a  free  press  it 
would  not  be  long  before  the  participation  of  the  Russian  people  in 
government  would  be  enlarged,  and,  with  that  enlarged  share  in  the 
control  of  their  own  affairs,  would  come  not  only  contentment,  but 
the  education  which  responsibility  and  self-government  bring.  It  is 
impossible  to  prepare  people  for  self-government  by  depriving  them 
of  the  exercise  of  political  rights.  As  children  learn  to  walk  by  being 
allowed  to  fall  and  rise  and  fall  and  rise  again,  so  people  profit  by 
experience  and  learn  frnm  the  consequences  of  their  mistakes. 


RUSSIA  AND  TIF.tt  CZAE 


547 


Thai  the  Russian  people  are  devoted  to  their  church  Is  evident  every- 
where. Every  village  and  town  has  its  churches,  and  the  cities  have 
cathedral.-,  chapels  and  shrines  seemingly  innumerable.  St.  Esaac's 
cathedral  in  St.  Petersburg  is  an  immense  basilica  and  is  ornamented 


RUSSIAN    BEGGAR. 


in  nave  and  transept  with  precious  and  semi-precious  stones.  The 
superb  portico  is  supported  by  a  maze  of  granite  monoliths  seven 
feet  in  diameter.  There  is  now  in  process  of  construction  at  Moscow 
a  still  more   elaborate   cathedral.      Russia  is   not  a   good    missionary 


548 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


field  for  two  reasons:  First,  because  the  people  seem  wedded  to  their 
church,  and,  second,  because  no  one  is  permitted  to  sever  his  connec- 
tion with  the  church. 

The  child  of  an  orthodox  Russian  becomes  a  member  of  the  church 
of  his  parents  and  if  he  desires  to  enter  another  church  he  must 
leave  the  country.  If  one  of  the  orthodox  church  marries  a  member 
of  another  church  the  children  must  of  necessity  be  reared  in  the 
Russian  faith.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  church  is  very 
closely  connected  with  the  government  itself,  and  quite  as  arbitrary. 

De  Tocqueville  some  fifty  years  ago  predicted  a  large  place  for 
Russia  among  the  nations  of  Europe  and  my  visit  to  the  great  empire 
of  the  northeast  convinced  me  that  Russia,  with  universal  education, 
freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  religion  and  con- 
stitutional self-government,  would  exert  an  influence  upon  the  destinies 
of  the  old  world  to  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  set  a  limit. 


KREMLTX    OF    MOSCOW 


CHAPTER  LVIL 

ROME— THE  CATHOLIC  CAPITAL. 

The  dominant  feature  of  Rome  is  the  religious  feature,  and  it  is 
fitting  that  it  should  be  so,  for  here  the  soil  was  stained  with  the 
blood  of  those  who  first  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  the  Xazarene — here 
a  cruel  Nero  lighted  his  garden  with  human  torches,  little  thinking 
that  the  religion  of  those  whom  he  burned  would  in  time  illumine  the 
earth. 

The  fact  that  the  city  is  the  capital  of  the  Catholic  world  is  apparent 
everywhere.  All  interest  is  centered  in  the  Vatican  and  St.  Peter'-. 
The  civil  government  of  Italy  extends  to  the  nation's  borders,  but 
the  papal  authority  of  Rome  reaches  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the 
earth.  I  was  anxious  to  see  the  man  upon  whom  such  vast  respon- 
sibility rests,  and  whose  words  so  profoundly  influence  millions  of  the 
human  race.  Lord  Denbigh,  of  England,  had  given  me  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  Cardinal  Merry  del  Val,  the  papal  secretary  of  state, 
and  armed  with  this  I  visited  the  Vatican.  Cardinal  del  Val  is  an 
exceedingly  interesting  man.  He  was  born  of  Spanish  parents,  but 
one  of  his  grandparents  was  English,  and  he  is  connected  by  tics 
of  blood  with  several  families  of  the  English  nobility.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  England,  and  speaks  that  language  fluently  and  without 
an  accent,  as  he  does  French,  German,  Italian  and  Spanish.  His  lin- 
guistic accomplishments  are  almost  as  great  as  those  of  the  famous 
Cardinal  Mezzofanti.  Cardinal  del  Val  is  an  unusually  young  man 
to  occupy  such  an  important  post — he  is  not  yet  forty.  He  impresses 
one  as  a  man  of  rare  ability  and  he  possesses  extraordinary  versatility 
and  a  diplomatic  training  that  will  make  him  eminently  useful  to  His 
Holiness.  The  papal  secretary  of  state  is  a  tall,  slender,  distinguished- 
lookinc;  man.  His  intellectual  face  is  thin  and  oval;  his  eves  are 
large,  dark  and  brilliant,  showing  his  Spanish  birth.  He  received 
us  in  his  private  apartments  in  the  Vatican.  They  are  among  the 
most  interesting  of  the  1,200  rooms  in  that  great  building  and  were 
once  occupied  by  that  famous  pope  who  was  a  Borgia.  The  ceilings 
and  walls  down  to  the  floor  are  painted  magnificently,  the  decoration 

549 


550 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


having  been  done  by  the  hand  of  a  master  artist  of  Borgia's  reign. 
For  centuries  the  suite  now  occupied  by  Cardinal  del  Val  had  been 
part  of  the  Vatican  library.  The  beautiful  walls  were  once  hidden  by 
a  coat  of  rude  whitewash,  but  the  paintings  were  discovered  not  long 
ago  and  restored  once  more  to  view. 

Before  visiting  the  Vatican  I  called  upon  Monsignor  Kennedy,  the 
rector  of  the  American  college.  Monsignor  Kennedy  is  a  learned 
and  an  exceedingly  agreeable  American  and  under  his  efficient  man- 
agement the  number  of  students  in  the  college  has  been  doubled  within 
a  few  years.  He  enabled  me  to  meet  Pope  Pius'  Maestro  di  Camera. 
By  the  good  offices  of  Cardinal  del  Yal  and  the  Maestro  di  Camera,  it 


COLISEUM,  ROME. 

was  arranged  that  I  should  have  a  private  audience  with  the  Holy 
Father  the  following  day,  Monsignor  Kennedy  acting  as  interpreter. 
Pope  Pius  received  us  in  his  private  room  adjoining  the  public 
audience  chamber,  where  distinguished  Catholics  from  all  over 
the  world  were  collected  and  ready  to  be  presented  and  receive 
the  f > ; i j > «* 1 1  blessing.  The  private  audience  room  is  a  rather  small 
apartment,  simply,  but  beautifully  furnished  and  decorated.  A 
throne  bearing  the  papal  crown  occupied  one  side  of  the  room.  Llis  Ho- 
liness greeted  us  very  courteously  and  cordially.  He  wore  a  long  white 
cassock,  with  a  girdle  at  the  waist;  the  fisherman's  ring  was  on  his 
linger  and  he  wore  a  small,  closely  fitting  skull-cap  of  white.     I  had 


POPE    PIUS    X. 


552  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

an  opportunity  to  study  his  face.  It  is  a  round,  strong  face,  full  of 
kindliness  and  benevolence,  but  there  are  not  lacking  indications 
that  its  possessor  has  a  purpose  and  will  of  his  own.  The  face  is  ruddy 
and  the  nose  rather  long — it  is  straight  and  not  arched.  His  eyes  are 
large,  blue  and  friendly.  The  scant  hair  visible  below  the  skull-cap  is 
white.  In  stature  the  Holy  Father  is  about  five  feet  nine  or  ten 
inches  and  bis  figure  is  sturdy,  but  not  too  heavy.  His  step  is  light 
and  gives  an  impression  of  strength  and  good  health. 

His  Holiness  has  already  gained  a  reputation  as  a  democratic  pontiff 
and  enjoys  a  large  and  growing  popularity  with  the  people.  He  is 
an  orator  and  often  on  Sunday  goes  into  one  of  the  many  court  yards 
of  the  Vatican  and  preaches  to  the  crowds  that  gather  quite  informally. 
His  gestures  are  said  to  be  graceful  and  his  voice  melodious.  His 
manner  is  earnest  and  his  thoughts  are  expressed  in  clear  and  em- 
phatic language.  There  is  a  feeling  in  Rome  that  Pius  X.  is  going 
to  be  known  in  history  as  a  reformer — not  as  u  reformer  of  doctrine, 
but  as  one  who  will  popularize  the  church's  doctrine  with  a  view  to 
increasing  the  heartiness  and  zeal  of  the  masses  in  the  application  of 
religious  truth  to  everyday  life. 

I  assured  his  Holiness  that  I  appreciated  the  opportunity  that  Avas 
his  to  give  impetus  to  the  moral  forces  of  the  world,  and  he  replied: 
"I  hope  my  efforts  in  that  direction  will  be  such  as  to  merit  commen- 
dation." Answering  my  statement  that  I  called  to  present  the  good 
will  of  many  Catholic  friends  as  well  as  to  pay  my  respects,  His 
Holiness  asked  me  to  carry  his  benediction  back  to  them. 

If  I  may  venture  an  opinion  upon  such  brief  observation,  it  is  that 
heart  characteristics  will  dominate  the  present  pontiff's  course.  He 
is  not  so  renowned  a  scholar  and  diplomat  as  was  his  predecessor,  nor 
is  he  so  skilled  in  statecraft,  but  he  is  a  virile,  energetic,  practical 
religious  teacher,  charitable,  abounding  in  good  works  and  full  of 
brotherly  love.  I  am  confident  that  he  will  play  an  important  part 
in  the  world-wide  conflict  between  man  and  mammon. 

The  world  has  made  and  is  making  great  progress  in  education  and 
in  industry.  The  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  everywhere  steadily  de- 
creasing. The  standards  of  art  and  taste  are  rising  and  the  forces  of 
nature  are  being  harnessed  to  do  the  work  of  man.  Steam,  madly 
escaping  from  its  prison  walls,  turns  myriad  wheels  and  drags  our 
commerce  over  land  and  sea,  while  electricity,  more  fleet  of  foot  than 
Mercury,  has  become  the  message-bearer  of  millions.  Even  the  waves 
of  the  air  are  now  obedient  to  the  command  of  man  and  intelligence  is 
flashed  across  the  ocean  without  the  aid  of  wires.    With  this  dominion 


ROME— THE    CATHOLIC    CAPITOL 


553 


over  nature  man  has  been  able  to  advance  his  physical  well-being,  as 

well  as  to  enlarge  his  mental  horizon,  but  has  the  moral  development 
of  the  people  kept  pace  with  materia]  prosperity?  The  growing  an- 
tagonism between  capital  and  labor,  the  lack  of  sympathy  often 
manifest  between  those  of  the  same  race  and  even  of  the  same  re- 
ligion, when  enjoying  incomes  quite  unequal  these  thing-  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  the  heart  has  lagged  behind  the  head  and  the  purse. 
The  restoration  of  the  equilibrium  and  the  infusing  of  a  feeling  of 
brotherhood  that  will   establish  justice   and   good   will   must   be   the 


NAPLES 


aim  of  those  who  are  sincerely  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  race. 
This  is  pre-eminently  the  work  of  our  religious  teachers,  although  it 
is  a  wrork  in  which  the  laity  as  well  as  the  clergy  must  take  part. 

After  meeting  Pius  X.,  late  the  beloved  patriarch  of  Venice.  I  feel 
assured  that  he  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  lead  his  portion  of  the  Christian 
church  in  this  great  endeavor. 

The  Vatican,  which  serves  as  the  home  and  executive  offices  of  the 
supreme  pontiff  of  the  Catholic  church,  is  an  enormous  building,  or 
rather  collection  of  buildings,  for  it  bears  evidence  of  additions  and 


554  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

annexes.  One  might  be  easily  lost  in  its  maze  of  corridors.  The 
ceilings  of  the  chief  apartments  are  high  and,  like  the  walls  of  the 
spacious  rooms  and  halls,  are  covered  with  frescoes  of  priceless  value. 
The  Vatican  adjoins  St.  Peter's  cathedral — or  basilica  as  it  is  called — 
a  description  of  whose  beauties  would  fill  a  volume.  The  basilica  is 
so  harmoniously  proportioned  that  one  does  not  appreciate  its  vast- 
ness  from  a  distance,  but  once  within  its  walls  it  is  easy  to  credit 
the  statement  that  fifty  thousand  persons  can  be  crowded  into  it.  In 
a  crypt  just  beneath  the  great  dome  is  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter,  about 
which  myriad  lamps  are  kept  constantly  burning.  Near  the  tomb  is 
a  crucifix  suspended  under  a  canopy  supported  by  four  spiral  columns 
that  are  replicas  of  a  column  elsewhere  in  the  cathedral  that  is  said 
to  have  been  part  of  Solomon's  temple.  Not  far  from  the  crucifix  is  the 
famous  bronze  statue  of  St.  Peter,  made  from  a  pagan  statue  of  Jupiter. 
It  is  mounted  upon  a  pedestal  about  five  feet  high  and  the  large  toe  of 
the  right  foot,  which  projects  over  the  pedestal  has  been  worn  smooth 
by  the  lips  of  devout  visitors  to  the  basilica. 

To  me  the  most  remarkable  of  the  splendors  of  the  cathedral  were 
the  mosaic  pictures,  of  which  there  are  many  of  heroic  size.  These 
mosaics  depict  Bible  scenes  and  characters  and  are  done  with  such 
marvelous  skill  that  a  little  way  off  one  can  hardly  doubt  that  they 
are  the  product  of  the  brush  of  some  great  master.  The  colors,  tints 
and  shades  are  so  perfect  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  pictures 
are  formed  by  the  piecing  together  of  tiny  bits  of  colored  marbles 
and  other  stones.  The  Vatican  maintains  a  staff  of  artists  in  mosaic, 
some  of  whose  work  may  be  purchased  by  the  public.  I  was  shown 
the  masterpiece  of  Michael  Angelo  in  the  cathedral  of  St.  Peter  in 
Vinculo — a  statue  of  Moses,  seated.  In  the  right  knee  there  is  a  slight 
crack  visible  and  it  is  tradition  that,  when  the  great  sculptor  had 
finished  his  work,  he  struck  the  knee  with  his  mallet  in  a  burst  of 
enthusiasm  and  exclaimed,  "Now,  speak."  St.  Paul's  cathedral,  which 
stands  outside  the  ancient  wall  of  the  city,  is  of  modern  construction 
and  is  therefore  less  interesting  to  the  visitor  than  the  great  basilica 
of  St.  Peter's. 

Next  to  the  Vatican  and  the  cathedrals  in  interest  are  the  ruins  of 
ancient  Rome.  In  England  and  France  I  had  seen  buildings  many 
centuries  old;  in  Rome  one  walks  at  the  foot  of  walls  that  for  nearly 
two  thousand  years  have  defied  the  ravages  of  time.  The  best  pre- 
served and  most  stupendous  of  the  relics  of  "The  Eternal  City"  is  the 
Colosseum.  It  is  built  upon  a  scale  that  gives  some  idea  of  the  large- 
ness of  Roman  conceptions  and  of  the  prodigality  with  which  the 
emperors  expended  the  money  and  labor  of  the  people.     The  arena 


556  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

in  which  the  gladiators  fought  with  their  fellows  and  with  wild  beasts 
— the  arena  in  which  many  of  the  Christian  martyrs  met  their  death — 
is  slightly  oval  in  form,  the  longest  diameter  being  about  250  feet. 
The  arena  was  so  arranged  that  it  could  be  flooded  with  water  and 
used  for  aquatic  tournaments.  The  spectators  looked  down  upon  the 
contests  from  galleries  that  rose  in  four  tiers  to  a  height  of  150  feet. 
At  one  end  of  the  arena  was  the  tribune  occupied  by  the  emperor  and 
his  Suite;  at  the  other  end  the  vestal  virgins  occupied  another  tribune 
and  it  was  their  privilege  to  confer  either  life  or  death  upon  the  van- 
quished gladiators  by  turning  the  thumb  up  or  down — turned  up  it 
meant  life,  turned  down,  death.  The  Roman  populace  gained  access 
to  the  galleries  by  160  doors  and  stairways.  The  seating  capacity  of 
the  Colosseum  is  estimated  to  have  been  fifty  thousand. 

The  Forum  is  even  richer  than  the  Colosseum  in  historic  interest 
and  recent  excavations  have  brought  to  light  what  are  supposed  to  be 
the  tomb  of  Csesar  and  the  tomb  of  Romulus.  The  tribune  is  pointed 
out  from  which  the  Roman  orators  addressed  the  multitude.  Here 
Cicero  hurled  his  invectives  at  Cataline  and  Mark  Antony  is  by 
Shakespeare  made  to  plead  here  for  fallen  Csesar.  The  triumphal 
arch  of  Constantine  stands  at  one  end  of  the  Forum  and  is  in  an 
excellent  state  of  preservation.  Among  the  carvings  lately  exhumed 
are  some  (especially  attractive  to  an  agriculturist)  showing  the  forms 
of  the  bull,  the  sheep  and  the  hog.  They  are  so  like  the  best  breeds 
of  these  animals  to-day  that  one  can  scarcely  believe  they  were  chiseled 
from  stone  nearly  twenty  centuries  ago.  In  Rome,  as  in  Paris,  there 
is  a  Pantheon  in  the  familiar  style  of  Greek  architecture.  In  the 
Roman  Pantheon  is  the  tomb  of  Raphael.  Cardinal  Bembo,  in  recog- 
nition of  Raphael's  genius,  caused  to  be  placed  upon  his  tomb  a  Latin 
epitaph  which  Hope  has  translated: 

"Living,  great  nature  feared  he  might  outvie 
Her  works,  and  dying  fears  herself  to  die. ' ' 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  Roman  history  the  river  Tiber  is 
an  object  of  interest,  but  here,  as  is  often  the  case,  one  feels  disap- 
pointed in  finding  that  the  thing  pictured  was  larger  than  the  reality. 
The  Tiber,  yellow  as  the  Missouri,  flows  through  the  very  heart  of 
Rome  and  is  kept  within  its  channel  by  a  high  stone  embankment. 
In  and  near  Rome  are  many  ancient  palaces,  some  of  them  falling  into 
decay,  and  some  well  preserved.  One  of  the  most  modern  of  the  pal- 
aces of  the  Italian  nobles  was  built  by  American  money,  the  wife  being 
a  member  of  a  wealthy  New  York  family.     Part  of  this  palace  is  now 


558 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


occupied  by  the  American  ambassador,  Mr.  Myer,  to  whom  I  am  in- 
debted for  courtesies  extended  in  Rome.  Art  galleries  and  museums 
are  numerous  in  Rome  and  in  the  other  cities  of  Italy,  and  contain 
many  of  the  works  of  the  great  Italian  artists  like  Raphael,  Angelo, 
Titian  and  others.  The  palace  of  King  Victor  Emmanuel  and  the 
public  buildings  of  Rome  are  imposing,  but  do  not  compare  in  size 
or  magnificence  with  the  ancient  palaces  of  England  and  France.  The 
journey  from  Rome  to  Venice  carried  us  through  a  very  fertile  part 
of  Italy.  The  land  is  carefully  cultivated;  the  thrifty  farmers  in  some 
places  have  set  out  mulberry  trees  for  the  cultivation  of  the  silk  worm 
and  have  trained  grape  vines  upon  the  trees. 

"We  passed  through  the  edge  of  Venice  and  saw  the  gondoliers  on 
the  Grand  Canal  waiting  to  carry  passengers  into  the  city.  A  very 
intelligent  Italian  newspaper  correspondent  whom  I  met  in  Rome  in- 
formed me  that  the  northern  provinces  of  Italy  were  much  further 
advanced  in  education  than  the  southern  provinces,  but  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  south  were  mentally  very  alert  and  with  the  addition  of 
instruction  would  soon  reach  the  intellectual  level  of  the  north. 

My  stay  in  Italy  was  all  too  brief  and  I  left  with  much  reluctance 
this  nursery  of  early  civilization — this  seat  of  government  of  the 
world's  greatest  religious  organization. 


MADONNA. 


CHAPTER   LVIII. 

TOLSTOY,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  LOVE. 

Count  Leo  Tolstoy,  the  intellectual  giant  of  Russia,  the  moral 
Titan  of  Europe  and  the  world's  most  conspicuous  exponent  of  the 
doctrine  of  love,  is  living  a  life  of  quiet  retirement  upon  his  estate 
near  the  village  of  Yasnaya,  Poliana,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  south  of  Moscow. 

I  made  a  visit  to  the  home  of  this  pleasant  philosopher  during 
my  stay  in  Russia,  driving  from  Tula  in  the  early  morning  and 
arriving  just  after  daylight.  Consul  General  Smith  of  Moscow  arranged 
with  Count  Tolstoy  for  the  visit.  I  had  intended  remaining  only  a 
few  hours,  but  his  welcome  was  so  cordial  that  my  stay  was  prolonged 
until  near  midnight.  Count  Tolstoy  is  now  about  seventy-six  years  old, 
and  while  he  shows  the  advance  of  years  he  is  still  full  of  mental  vigor 
and  retains  much  of  his  physical  strength.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
latter  I  might  refer  to  the  horseback  ride  and  walk  which  we  took 
together  in  the  afternoon.  The  ride  covered  about  four  miles  and 
the  walk  about  two.  When  we  reached  the  house  the  count  said  that 
he  would  take  a  little  rest  and  insisted  that  I  should  do  likewise.  A 
few  minutes  later,  when  I  expressed  to  the  count's  physician,  Dr. 
Burkenheim,  the  fear  that  he  might  have  overtaxed  his  strength,  the 
doctor  smilingly  assured  me  that  the  count  usually  took  more  exercise, 
but  had  purposely  lessened  his  allowance  that  day,  fearing  that  he 
might    fatigue  me. 

Count  Tolstoy  is  an  impressive  figure.  His  years  have  only  slightly 
bowed  his  broad  shoulders  and  his  step  is  still  alert.  In  height  he 
is  about  five  feet  eight,  his  head  is  large  and  his  abundant  hair  is  not 
yet  wholly  white.  His  large  blue  eyes  are  set  wide  apart  and  are 
maded  by  heavy  eyebrows.  The  forehead  is  unusually  wide  and  high. 
He  wears  a  long,  full  beard  that  gives  him  a  patriarchal  appearance. 
The  mouth  is  large  and  the  lips  full.  The  nose  is  rather  long  and 
the  nostrils  wide.  The  hands  are  muscular,  and  the  grasp  bespeaks 
warmth  of  heart.  The  count  dresses  like  the  peasants  of  his  country, 
wearing  a  grayish-blue  blouse  belted  in  at  the  waist,  with  skirts  reaching 

559 


500 


THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 


nearly  to  the  boot-tops.  His  trousers,  also  of  the  peasant  style,  are 
inclined  to  be  baggy  and  are  stuffed  into  his  boots.  I  was  informed 
that  the  count  never  wears  any  other  dress,  even  when  other  members 
of  the  family  are  entertaining  guests  in  evening  clothes. 


COUNT  TOLSTOY. 


The  room  which  I  occupied  was  the  one  used  by  the  count  as  a 
study  in  his  younger  days,  and  I  was  shown  a  ring  in  the  ceiling  from 
which  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  he  planned  to  hang  himself — a  plan 
from  which  he  was  turned  by  the  resolve  to  change  the  manner  and 


TOLSTOY,    THE    APOSTLE    OF    LOVE  56i 

purpose  of  his  life.  As  is  well  known,  Count  Tolstoy  is  a  member 
of  the  Russian  nobility  and  for  nearly  fifty  years  led  the  life  of  a 
nobleman.  He  early  achieved  fame  as  a  novelist,  his  "War  and 
Peace,"  which  was  written  when  he  was  but  a  young  man,  being  con- 
sidered one  of  the  literary  masterpieces  of  the  century.  He  sounded 
all  the  "depths  and  shoals  of  honor"  in  the  literary  and  social  world: 
ho  realized  all  that  one  could  wish  or  expeel  in  these  lines,  but  found 
that  success  did  not  satisfy  (lie  cravings  of  the  inner  man.  While 
he  was  meditating  upon  what  he  had  come  to  regard  as  a  wasted  life, 
a  change  came  over  him,  and  with  a,  faith  that  has  never  faltered 
he  turned  about  and  entered  upon  a  career  that  has  been  unique  in 
history.  He  donned  the  simple  garb  of  a  peasant,  and,  living  frugally, 
has  devoted  himself  to  philosophy  and  unrenni iterative  work — that  is, 
unremunerative  from  a  financial  standpoint,  although  he  declares  that 
it  has  brought  him  more  genuine  enjoyment  than  he  ever  knew 
before.  All  of  his  books  written  since  this  change  in  his  life  have 
been  given  to  the  public  without  copyright,  except  in  one  instance, 
when  the  proceeds  of  "Resurrection"  were  pledged  to  the  aid  of  the 
Russian  Quakers,  called  Doukhobors,  whom  the  count  assisted  to  emi- 
grate from  their  persecution  in  Russia  to  western  Canada,  where  they 
now  reside.  As  an  evidence  of  the  count's  complete  renunciation  of  all 
money  considerations,  it  is  stated  that  he  has  declined  an  offer  of 
^."OO.OOO  for  the  copyright  of  the  books  written  by  him  before  bis 
life  current  was  altered. 

My  object  in  visiting  him  was  not  so  much  to  learn  his  views — for 
his  opinions  have  had  wide  expression  and  can  be  found  in  his 
numerous  essavs — but  it  was  rather  to  see  the  man  and  ascertain  if  I 
could,  from  personal  contact,  learn  the  secret  of  the  tremendous  influ- 
ence that  he  is  exerting  upon  the  thought  of  the  world.  T  am  satisfied 
that,  notwithstanding  his  great  intellect,  his  colossal  strength  lies  in  his 
heart  more  than  in  his  mind.  It  is  true  that  few  have  equaled  him 
in  power  of  analysis  and  in  clearness  of  statement,  while  none  have 
surpassed  him  in  beauty  and  aptness  of  illustration.  Rut  no  one  can 
commune  with  him  without  feeling  that  the  man  is  like  an  overflowing 
spring — asking  nothing,  but  giving  always.  Tie  preaches  self-abnega- 
tion and  has  demonstrated  to  his  own  satisfaction  that  there  is  more 
genuine  joy  in  living  for  others  than  in  living  upon  others — more  hap- 
piness in  serving  than  in  being  served. 

The  purpose  of  life,  as  defined  by  him,  has  recently  been  quoted 
by  Mr.  Ernest  Crosby  in  "The  Open  Court."    It  reads  as  follows: 

"Life  then  is  the  activity  of  the  animal  individuality  working 
in  submission  to  the  law  of  reason.    Reason  shows  man  that  happiness 


562  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

cannot  be  obtained  by  a  self-life  and  leaves  only  one  outlet  open  for 
him  and  that  is  love.  Love  is  the  only  legitimate  manifestation  of  life. 
It  is  an  activity  and  has  for  its  object  the  good  of  others.  When  it 
makes  its  appearance  the  meaningless  strife  of  the  animal  life  ceases." 
Love  is  the  dominant  note  in  Count  Tolstoy's  philosophy.  It  is  not 
only  the  only  weapon  of  defense  which  he  recognizes,  but  it  is  the  only 
means  by  which  he  would  influence  others.  It  is  both  his  shield  and 
his  sword.  He  is  a  deeply  religious  man,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  few  years  ago  excomunicated  by  the  Russian  church.  In 
one  of  his  essays  he  has  defined  religion  as  follows: 

"True  religion  is  a  relation,  accordant  with  reason  and  knowledge, 
which  man  establishes  with  the  infinite  life  surrounding  him,  and  it  is 
such  as  binds  his  life  to  that  infinity,  and  guides  his  conduct." 

He  not  only  takes  his  stand  boldly  upon  the  side  of  spiritual,  as 
distinguished  from  material,  philosophy,  but  he  administers  a  rebuke 
to  those  who  assume  that  religious  sentiment  is  an  indication  of  intel- 
lectual weakness  or  belongs  to  the  lower  stages  of  man's  development. 
In  his  essay  on  "Religion  and  Morality,"  to  which  he  referred  me  for 
his  opinion  on  this  subject,  he  says: 

"Moreover,  every  man  who  has  ever,  even  in  childhood,  experienced 
religious  feelings,  knows  by  personal  experience  that  it  was  evoked 
in  him,  not  by  external,  terrifying,  material  phenomena,  but  by  an 
inner  consciousness.,  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  fear  of  the 
unknown  forces  of  nature — a  consciousness  of  his  own  insignificance, 
loneliness  and  guilt.  And,  therefore,  both  by  external  observation  and 
by  personal  experience,  man  may  know  that  religion  is  not  the  worship 
of  gods,  evoked  by  superstitious  fear  of  the  invisible  forces  of  nature, 
proper  to  men  only  at  a  certain  period  of  their  development;  out  is 
something  quite  independent  either  of  fear  or  of  their  degree  of  edu- 
cation— a  something  that  cannot  be  destroyed  by  any  development 
of  culture.  For  man's  consciousness  of  his  finiteness  amid  an  infinite 
universe,  and  of  his  sinfulness  (i.  e.,  of  his  not  having  done  all  he  might 
and  should  have  done)  has  always  existed  and  will  exist  as  long  as  man 
remains  man." 

If  religion  is  an  expression  of  "man's  consciousness  of  his  finiteness 
amid  an  infinite  universe,  and  of  his  sinfulness,"  it  cannot  be  out- 
grown until  one  believes  himself  to  have  reached  perfection  and  to 
possess  all  knowledge,  and  observation  teaches  us  that  those  who  hold 
this  opinion  of  themselves  are  not  the  farthest  advanced,  but  simply 
lack  that  comprehension  of  their  own  ignorance  and  frailty  which  is 
the  very  beginning  of  progress. 


TOLSTOY,    THE    APOSTLE    OF    LOVE  563 

Count  Tolstoy  is  an  advocate  of  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance.  He 
not  only  believes  that  evil  can  be  overcome  by  good,  bul  lie  denies  that 
it  can  be  overcome  in  any  other  way.  I  asked  him  several  questions 
on  the  subject,  and  the  following  dialogue  presents  his  views: 

Q.  Do  you  draw  any  line  between  the  use  of  force  to  avenge  an 
injury  already  received,  and  the  use  of  force  to  protect  yourself  from 
injury  about  to  be  inflicted? 

A.  No.  Instead  of  using  violence  to  protect  myself,  T  ought  rather 
to  express  my  sorrow  that  I  had  done  anything  that  would  make  any- 
one desire  to   injure  me. 

Q.  Do  you  draw  a  line  between  the  use  of  force  fro  protect  a  right 
and  the  use  of  force  to  create  a  right  ? 

A.  No.  That  is  the  excuse  generally  given  for  the  use  of  violence. 
Men  insist  that  they  are  simply  defending  a  right,  when,  in  fact,  they 
are  trying  to  secure  something  that  they  desire  and  to  which  they  are 
not  entitled.  The  use  of  violence  is  not  necessary  to  secure  one's  rights; 
there  are  more  effective  menus. 

Q.  Do  you  draw  any  distinction  between  the  use  of  force  to  protect 
yourself  and  the  use  of  force  to  protect  someone  under  your  care — a 
child,  for  instance? 

A.  No.  As  we  do  not  attain  entirely  to  our  ideals,  we  might  find  it 
ditficult  in  such  a  case  not  to  resort  to  the  use  of  force,  but  it  would  not 
be  justifiable,  and.  besides,  rules  cannot  be  made  for  such  exceptional 
cases.  Millions  of  people  have  been  the  victims  of  force  and  have 
suffered  because  it  has  been  thought  right  to  employ  it ;  but  I  am  now 
old  and  I  have  never  known  in  all  my  life  a  single  instance  in  which  a 
child  was  attacked  in  such  a  way  that  it  would  have  been  necessary 
for  me  to  use  force  for  its  protection.  I  prefer  to  consider  actual 
rather  than  imaginary  cases. 

I  found  later  that  this  last  question  had  been  answered  in  a  letter 
on  non-resistance  addressed  to  Mr.  Ernest  Crosby,  in  1896  (included  in 
a  little  volume  of  Tolstoy"-  Essays  and  Letters  recently  published  by 
Grant  Richards,  Leicester  Square.  London,  and  reprinted  by  Funk 
&  Wagnails  of  New  York).     In  this  letter  he  says: 

"None  of  us  has  ever  yet  met  the  imaginary  robber  with  the  imag- 
inary child,  but  all  the  horrors  which  fill  the  annals  of  history  and  of 
our  own  times  came  and  come  from  this  one  thing — that  people  will 
believe  that  they  can  foresee  the  results  of  hypothetical  future  actions." 

When  I  visited  him  he  was  just  finishing  an  introduction  to  a 
biographical  sketch  of  "William  Lloyd  Garrison,  his  attention  having 
been  called  to  Garrison  by  the  latter's  advocacy  of  the  doctrine  of 
non-resistance. 


564  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS   WAYS 

Tolstoy,  in  one  of  his  strongest  essays  that  he  has  written — an  essay 
entitled  "Industry  and  Idleness" — elaborates  and  defends  the  doctrine 
advanced  by  a  Russian  named  Bondaref,  to  the  effect  that  each  indi- 
vidual should  labor  with  his  hands,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  producing 
his  own  food.  I  referred  to  this  and  asked  him  for  a  brief  statement 
of  his  reasons.  He  said  that  it  was  necessary  for  one  to  engage  in 
manual  labor  in  order  to  keep  himself  in  sympathy  with  those  who 
toil,  and  he  described  the  process  by  which  people  first  relieve  them- 
selves of  the  necessity  of  physical  exertion  and  then  come  to  look  with 
a  sort  of  contempt  upon  those  who  find  it  necessary  to  work  with  their 
hands.  He  believes  that  a  lack  of  sympathy  lies  at  the  root  of  most 
of  the  injustice  which  men  suffer  at  the  hands  of  their  fellows.  He 
holds  that  it  is  not  sufficient  that  one  can  remember  a  time  when  he 
earned  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  but  that  he  must  continue  to 
know  what  physical  fatigue  means  and  what  drudgery  is,  in  order  that 
he  may  rightly  estimate  his  brother  and  deal  with  him  as  a  brother. 
In  addition  to  this  he  says  that,  when  one  begins  to  live  upon  the 
labor  of  others,  he  is  never  quite  sure  that  he  is  earning  his  living. 
Let  me  quote  his  language:  "If  you  use  more  than  you  produce  you 
cannot  be  quite  content,  if  you  are  a  conscientious  man.  Who  can 
know  how  much  I  work?  It  is  impossible.  A  man  must  work  as 
much  as  he  can  with  his  hands,  taking  the  most  difficult  and  disagree- 
able tasks,  that  is,  if  he  wishes  to  have  a  quiet  conscience.  Mental 
work  is  much  easier  than  physical  work,  despite  what  is  said  to  the 
contrary.  No  work  is  too  humble,  too  disagreeable,  to  do.  No  man 
ought  to  dodge  work.  If  I  dodge  work  I  feel  guilty.  There  are  some 
people  who  think  they  are  so  precious  that  other  people  must  do  the 
dirty,  disagreeable  work  for  them.  Every  man  is  so  vain  as  to  think 
his  own  work  the  most  important.  That  is  why  I  try  to  work  with  my 
hands  by  the  side  of  workinginen.  If  I  write  a  book,  I  cannot  be 
quite  sure  whether  it  will  be  useful  or  not.  If  I  produce  something 
that  will  support  life,  I  know  that  I  have  done  something  useful." 

Tolstoy  presents  an  ideal,  and  while  he  recognizes  that  the  best  of 
efforts  is  but  an  approach  to  the  ideal,  he  does  not  consent  to  the  lower- 
ing of  the  ideal  itself  or  the  defense  of  anything  that  aims  at  less  than 
the  entire  realization  of  the  ideal.  He  is  opposed  to  what  he  calls 
palliatives,  and  insists  that  we  need  the  reformation  of  the  individual 
more  than  the  reformation  of  law  or  government.  He  holds  that  the 
first  thing  to  do  is  to  substitute  the  Christian  spirit  for  the  selfish 
spirit.  He  likens  those  who  Tire  trying  to  make  piecemeal  progress 
to  persons  who  are  trying  to  push  cars  along  a  track  by  putting  their 
shoulders  against  the  cars.     He  says  that  they  could  better  employ 


TOLSTOY,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  LOVE       565 

their  energy  by  putting  steam  in  the  engine,  which  would  then  pull 
the  cars.  And  the  religious  spirit  he  defines  as  "such  a  belief  in 
God  and  such  a  feeling  of  responsibility  to  God  a.s  will  manifest  itself 
both  in  the  worship  of  the  Creator  and  in  the  fellowship  with  the  cre- 
ated." 

During  the  course  of  conversation  he  touched  on  some  of  the  prob- 
lems with  which  the  various  nations  have  to  deal.  Of  course  he  is 
opposed  to  war  under  all  circumstances,  and  regards  the  professional 
soldier  as  laboring  under  a  delusion.  He  says  that  soldiers,  instead  of 
following  their  consciences,  accept  the  doctrine  that  a  soldier  must 
do  what  he  is  commanded  to  do,  placing  upon  his  superior  officer  the 
responsibility  for  the  command.  He  denies  that  any  individual  can 
thus  shift  the  responsibility  for  his  conduct.  In  speaking  of  soldiers, 
he  expressed  an  opinion  that  indicates  his  hostility  to  the  whole  mili- 
tary system.  He  said  that  soldiers  insisted  upon  being  tried  by  military 
men  and  military  courts,  and  added:  "That,  is  amusing.  I  re- 
member that  when  that  plea  was  made  in  a  case  recently,  I  retorted 
that  if  that  was  so,  why  was  not  a  murderer  justified  in  demanding 
a  trial  at  the  hands  of  murderers,  or  a  burglar  in  demanding  trial  by 
a  jury  of  burglars.  That  would  be  on  all  fours  with  the  other  proposi- 
tion." 

He  is  not  a  believer  in  protection,  and  regards  a  tariff  levied  upon 
all  of  the  people  for  the  benefit  of  some  of  the  people  as  an  abuse  of 
government  andimmoral  in  principle.  I  found  that  he  was  an  admirer 
of  Henry  George  and  a  believer  in  his  theory  in  regard  to  the  single  tax. 

He  is  opposed  to  trusts.  He  says  that  the  trust  is  a  new  kind  of 
despotism  and  that  it  is  a  menace  to  modern  society.  He  regards  the 
power  that  it  gives  men  to  oppress  their  fellows  as  even  more  dangerous 
than  its  power  to  reap  great  profits. 

He  referred  to  some  of  our  very  rich  men  and  declared  that  the 
possession  of  great  wealth  was  objectionable,  both  because  of  its  influ- 
ence over  its  possessor  and  because  of  the  power  it  gave  him  over  his 
fellows.  I  asked  him  what  use  a  man  could  make  of  a  great  fortune, 
and  he  replied:  "Let  him  give  it  away  to  the  first  person  he  meets. 
That  would  be  better  than  keeping  it."  And  then  he  told  how  a  lady 
of  fortune  once  asked  his  advice  as  to  what  she  could  do  with  her  money 
(she  derived  her  income  from  a  large  manufacturing  establishment) , 
and  he  replied  that  if  she  wanted  to  do  good  with  her  money  she  might 
help  her  work-people  to  return  to  the  country,  and  assist  them  in  buy- 
ing and  stocking  their  farms.  "If  I  do  that,"  she  exclaimed  in  dismay, 
"I  would  not  have  any  people  to  work  for  me,  and  my  income  would 
disappear." 


366  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

As  all  are  more  or  less  creatures  of  environment,  Tolstoy's  views 
upon  religion  have  probably  been  colored  somewhat  by  his  experience 
with  the  Greek  church.  He  has,  in  some  instances,  used  arguments 
against  the  Greek  church  which  are  broad  enough  to  apply  to  all 
church  organizations.  He  has  not  always  discriminated  between  the 
proper  use  of  an  organization  and  the  abuse  of  power  which  a  large 
organization  possesses.  "While  animated  by  a  sincere  desire  to  hasten 
the  reign  of  universal  brotherhood,  and  to  help  the  world  to 
a  realization  of  the  central  thought  of  Christ's  teachings,  he  has  not, 
I  think,  fully  appreciated  the  great  aid  which  a  church  organization 
can  lend  when  properly  directed.  In  the  work  in  which  Tolstoy  is 
engaged,  he  will  find  his  strongest  allies  among  church  members  to 
whom  the  commandment  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself" 
is  not  merely  sound  philosophy,  but  a  divine  decree.  These  will  work 
in  the  church  and  through  the  church,  while  he  stands  without  rais- 
ing his  voice  to  the  same  God  and  calling  men  to  the  same  kind 
of  life. 

His  experience  with  the  arbitrary  methods  of  his  own  government 
has  led  him  to  say  things  that  have  been  construed  as  a  condemna- 
tion of  all  government.  He  has  seen  so  much  violence  and  injustice 
done  in  the  name  of  government  that  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
evils  of  government  should  impress  him  more  than  its  possibilities  for 
good.  And  yet  those  who  believe  that  a  just  government  is  a  blessing 
can  work  with  him  in  the  effort  to  secure  such  remedial  measures  as 
he  asks  for  in  his  letter  "To  the  Czar  and  His  Assistants." 

Tolstoy's  career  shows  how  despotic  is  the  sway  of  the  heart  and 
how,  after  all,  it  rules  the  world,  for  while  his  literary  achievements 
have  been  admired,  the  influence  which  they  have  exerted  is  as  nothing- 
compared  with  the  influence  exerted  by  his  philosophy.  People  enjoy 
reading  his  character  sketches,  his  dialogues  and  his  descriptions  of 
Russian  life,  but  these  do  not  take  hold  upon  men  like  his  simple 
presentation  of  the  doctrine  of  love,  exemplified  in  his  life  as  clearly 
as  it  is  expressed  by  his  pen.  Many  of  his  utterances  are  denied 
publication  in  Russia,  and  when  printed  abroad  cannot  be  carried 
across  the  border,  and  yet  he  has  made  such  a  powerful  impression 
upon  the  world  that  he  is  himself  safe  from  molestation.  He  can  say 
with  impunity  against  his  government  and  against  the  Greek  church 
what  it  would  be  perilous  for  others  to  say,  and  this  very  security  is 
proof  positive  that  in  Russia  thought  inspired  by  love  is,  as  Carlyle 
declared  it  to  be  everywhere,  stronger  than  artillery  parks. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

NOTES  ON  EUROPE. 

In  the  articles  written  on  the  different  European  nation.-  visited  I 
confined  myself  to  certain  subjects,  but  there  are  a  Qumber  of  things 
worthy  of  comment  which  were  not  germane  to  the  matters  discussed. 
I  shall  present  some  of  these  under  the  above  head. 

An  American  who  travels  in  England  in  the  winter  time  is  sure  to 
notice  the  coldness  of  the  cars.  The  English  people  do  not  seem  to 
notice  this,  for  if  they  did  the  matter  would  certainly  be  remedied; 
but  the  stranger  who  has  to  wrap  up  in  blankets  and  keep  his  feet  upon 
a  tank  of  hot  water  makes  comparisons  between  the  comfort  of  the 
American  railway  cars  and  those  of  England,  much  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  latter.  On  the  continent  the  temperature  of  the  cars  is  higher 
and  travel  more  pleasant. 

Sheep  graze  in  the  very  suburbs  of  London.  This  was  a  surprise 
to  me.  I  saw  more  sheep  in  the  little  traveling  that  I  did  in  England 
than  I  have  §een  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  in 
years  of  travel.  But  after  one  has  enjoyed  for  a  few  days  the  English 
mutton  chop,  the  best  in  the  world,  he  understands  why  English  sheep 
are  privileged  to  graze  upon  high  priced  lands. 

The  House  of  Lords  is  much  more  elegantly  furnished  than  Parlia- 
ment, but  it  excites  curiosity  rather  than  interest.  It,  too,  is  small 
compared  with  the  number  of  Lords;  but  as  the  Lords  seldom  attend, 
the  accommodations  are  ample.  Only  three  members  are  required  to 
constitute  a  quorum,  and  it  is  easy  therefore  to  get  together  enough 
to  acquiesce  in  measures  that  pass  Parliament.  So  far  as  any  real 
influence  is  concerned,  the  House  of  Lords  might  as  well  be  abolished ; 
and  as  only  three  are  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum,  it  would  only 
be  necessary  to  reduce  the  necessary  number  by  three  and  make  none 
a  quorum  to  entirely  remove  this  legislative  body  from  consideration. 

The  Courts  of  England  are  a  matter  of  interest  to  American  lawyers. 
and  a  matter  of  curiosity  to  other  Americans.  As  our  Supreme  Judges 
wear  gowns,  the  gown  is  not  so  unfamiliar  to  us;  but  the  wig,  which  is 
still  worn  by  the  English  judges,  barristers  and  solicitors,  is  not  seen 
in  this  country.  The  wig  is  made  of  white  curly  hair  and  does  not 
reach  much  below  the  ears.  When  the  wearer  has  black  hair,  or  red 
hair,  or  in  fact  hair  of  any  color  except  white,  the  contrast  between 
the  wig  and  the  natural  hair  sometimes  excites  a  smile  from  those 

567 


568  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

who  are  not  impressed  with  the  necessity  for  this  relic  of  ancient 
times.  In  one  of  the  court  rooms  which  I  visited,  a  son  of  Charles 
Dickens  was  arguing  a  case,  and  while  I  did  not  recognize  any  of  the 
brilliancy  and  humor  that  have  led  me  to  place  Dickens  at  the  head 
of  the  novelists  whom  I  have  read,  the  son  is  said  to  be  a  reasonably 
successful  lawyer.  In  one  of  the  Admiralty  Courts  a  very  bushy  headed 
wharf  man  was  testifying  to  a  salvage  contract  which  he  had  made  and 
he  was  quite  emphatic  in  his  assertions  that  the  terms  were  "'alf  and 
'alf." 

In  one  of  the  court  rooms  Lord  Alverstone  was  presiding,  and  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  afterwards  at  dinner  in  Lincoln  Inn 
Court.  He  is  one  of  the  finest  looking  men  whom  I  met  in  England. 
He  rendered  a  decision  in  favor  of  the  United  States  in  the  matter  of 
the  recent  arbitration  with  Canada. 

Ambassador  Joseph  Choate  placed  me  under  obligations  to  him,  as 
did  also  Secretary  of  the  Legation  Henry  White,  by  their  many 
courtesies  extended. 

At  Mr.  Choate's  table  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Right  Hon.  A.  J. 
Balfour,  the  present  Premier.  He  strikes  one  as  a  scholarly  man 
rather  than  as  a  parliamentary  fighter.  He  has  had  a  remarkable 
official  career.  As  he  was  and  is  still  a  bimetallist,  I  found  him  a  con- 
genial man  to  have  at  my  right.  Mr.  Richie,  who  left  the  Cabinet  be- 
cause of  a  disagreement  with  Mr.  Balfour  on  the  fiscal  question,  sat 
at  my  left,  and  as  he  was  an  ardent  opponent  of  protection,  I  had  no 
trouble  conversing  with  him.  I  learned  afterwards  that  Mr.  Balfour 
and  Mr.  Richie  had  not  met  since  the  Cabinet  rupture.  Among  those 
present  at  the  table  was  Hon.  Leonard  Courtney,  for  many  years  a 
member  of  Parliament.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Commission 
that  presented  the  now  world  renowned  report  on  falling  prices.  He 
also  took  an  active  part  in  opposing  the  war  against  the  Boers.  In 
appearance  he  reminds  one  of  Senator  Allen  G.  Thurman,  having 
something  of  the  same  strength  and  ruggedness  of  feature.  I  am 
indebted  to  him  for  an  opportunity  to  visit  Lincoln  Inn  Court,  where 
I  met  a  number  of  other  eminent  judges  besides  Lord  Alverstone. 

Mr.  Moreton  Frewen  was  also  a.  guest  of  Ambassador  Choate  on  that 
occasion.  He  has  frequently  visited  the  United  States  and  has  written 
much  on  the  subject  of  silver.  When  he  came  to  the  United  States 
soon  after  the  election  in  1896,  and  was  told  that  there  had  been  some 
repeating  in  some  of  the  cities,  he  inquired,  "Is  it  not  twice  as  honest 
to  vote  twice  for  honest  money  as  to  vote  once?"  I  found,  however, 
that  he  was  working  with  the  Chamberlain  protectionists,  who,  by 
the  w7ay,  call  themselves  "tariff  reformers."     He  had  found  a  Bible 


NOTES  ON  EUROPE  569 

passage  which  he  was  using  on  the  stump.    It  was  taken  from  Gem 

Pharaoh  said  to  someone  who  inquired  of  him,  "Go  unto  Joseph; 
what  he  saith  to  you,  do."  It  seems,  however,  from  the  more  recent 
elections,  that  the  people  have  refused  to  identify  the  modern  Joseph 
with  the  ancient  one. 

At  Mr.  Choate's  table  the  subject  of  story  telling  was  discussed,  and 
some  comment  made  about  the  proverbial  slowness  of  the  Englishman 
in  catching  the  point  of  American  stories.  I  determined  to  test  (his 
with  a  story  and  told  of  the  experience  of  the  minister  who  ami-  argu- 
ing against  the  possibility  of  perfection  in  this  life.  He  asked  his 
congregation:  "Is  there  anyone  here  who  is  perfect?"  No  one  arose. 
"Is  there  anyone  in  the  congregation  who  has  ever  seen  a  perfeel 
person?"  No  one  arose.  Continuing  his  inquiry,  he  asked,  "I-  there 
anyone  here  who  has  ever  heard  of  a  perfect  person?"  A  very  meek 
little  woman  arose  in  the  rear  of  the  room.  He  repeated  his  question 
to  be  sure  that  she  understood,  and  as  she  again  declared  that  she  had 
heard  of  such  a  person,  he  asked  her  to  give  the  name  of  the  perfect 
person  of  whom  she  had  heard.  She  replied,  "My  husband's  first  wife." 
All  the  Englishmen  at  the  table  saw  the  point  of  the  story  at  once, 
and  one  of  them  remarked  that  he  thought  the  story  would  be  appre- 
ciated wherever  domestic  life  is  known. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  meet  in  London  Mr.  Sidney  Webb  and 
his  talented  wife,  both  of  whom  have  written  extensively  on  municipal 
ownership  and  industrial  co-operation. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  figures  in  European  journalism  is  Sir 
Alfred  Harmsworth,  proprietor  of  the  London  Daily  Mail.  He  has 
achieved  a  remarkable  success  and  is  still  a  young  man.  His  country 
home,  some  thirty  miles  out  from  London,  is  an  old  English  castle 
which  he  recently  secured  for  a  long  term  of  years.  The  house  was 
built  more  than  three  hundred  years  ago  by  one  of  the  kings  for  a 
favorite  courtier.  The  estate  is  large  enough  to  include  farm  and 
pasture  lands  and  a  well  stocked  hunting  preserve.  Lady  Harmsworth 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  the  kingdom  and  entertains  lav- 
ishly. 

The  average  foreigner  does  not  have  an}'  higher  opinion  than  the 
American  does  of  those  "international  marriages"  by  means  of  which 
"some  of  the  decaying  estates  of  titled  foreigners  are  being  restored,  but 
there  are  many  marriages  between  our  people  and  Europeans  which 
rest  upon  affection  and  congeniality.  The  union  of  Rt.  Hon.  Joseph 
Chamberlain  and  the  daughter  of  Ex-Secretary  Endicott,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  the  Navy  Department  during  Mr.  Cleveland's  first  admin- 
istration, is  a  notable  illustration.     Mrs.  Chamberlain  is  a  charming 


570  'HIE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

and  accomplished  woman  and  justly  popular  with  the  Britons  as  well 
as  -with  the  Americans  who  visit  England. 

The  American  tourist  is  sure  to  find  some  of  his  countrymen  stranded 
in  London.  I  met  several  of  them.  Most  of  them  represented  them- 
selves as  related  to  prominent  political  friends,  and  these  I  could  assist 
without  inquiring  too  closely  into  the  alleged  relationship,  but  one 
case  of  a  different  kind  failed  to  appeal  to  me.  A  lady  who  attached  a 
high  sounding  title  to  her  name  sent  her  secretary  to  solicit  aid.  He 
represented  her  as  an  American  who  had  against  her  parents'  wishes 
married  a  titled  Englishman;  her  husband  had  deserted  her  and  her 
physician  had  told  her  that  her  health  required  that  she  spend  the 
winter  in  Southern  France.  Her  American  relatives  were  rich,  I  was 
assured,  but  she  was  too  proud  to  let  them  know  of  her  misfortune.  It 
was  a  sad  story  even  when  told  by  a  secretary  (how  she  could  afford 
one  I  do  not  know),  but  I  did  not  feel  justified  in  encouraging  a  pride 
that  led  her  to  make  her  wants  known  to  strangers  rather  than  to  her 
own  kin. 

In  my  article  on  the  growth  of  municipal  ownership  (it  will  be 
found  on  another  page) ,  I  referred  to  the  work  of  John  Burns,  the 
noted  labor  leader  of  London.  I  may  add  here  that  his  seven  or  eight 
years  old  son  is  the  handsomest  child  that  I  saw  in  England.  I  was 
on  the  stage  at  Lord  Rosebery's  meeting  and  my  attention  was  attracted 
to  a  child  of  unusual  beauty  sitting  just  in  front  of  me.  I  asked  the 
gentleman  at  my  side  whether  he  was  a  fair  sample  of  the  English 
1 ><  »y :  he  replied  that  he  was  an  excellent  representative.  Soon  after- 
ward the  mother  introduced  herself  to  me  as  the  wife  of  John  Burns. 
I  thought  it  an  interesting  coincidence  that  I  should  admire  the  child 
unconscious  of  his  relationship  to  the  man  who  had  the  day  before 
impressed  me  so  favorably. 

And,  speaking  of  Mr.  Burns,  I  reproduce  below  an  item  which  ap- 
peared in  one  of  the  London  papers  the  day  after  I  returned  Mr.  Burns' 
call.  He  sent  it  to  me  with  the  remark  that  it  probably  differed  from 
the  personal  items  to  which  I  was  accustomed.    It  reads : — 

"Mr.  Burns'  Mysterious  Visitor. 

"Just  before  ten  o'clock  this  (Friday)  morning  a  hansom  cab 
(plentifully  bespattered  with  gilt  coronets)  stopped  outside  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Burns,  Lavender  Hill.  A  person  alighted  and  was  re- 
ceived with  every  appearance  of  cordiality  by  Mr.  Burns,  who  escorted 
liiin  into  the  house.  We  believe  the  visitor  was  Lord  Rosebery;  he 
certainly  bore  a,  striking  resemblance  to  that  childlike  peer.  Possibly, 
however,  it  was  only  the  King  of  Italy.  In  diplomatic  circles  it  has 
been  known  for  a  long  time  that  his  Italian  Majesty  intended  to  visit 


NOTES  ON  EUROPE  571 

the  Municipal  Mecca  for  much  the  same  reasons  that  induced  Peter 
the  Great  of  Russia  to  come  to  England.  It  was  known,  also,  that  he 
would  come  in  some  sort  of  disguise.  That  Mr.  Burns'  visitor  this 
morning  was  a  person  of  importance  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  a 
constable  in  uniform  and  two  or  three  other  men  (probably  secret 
service  officers)  were  in  wailing  when  the  cab  drew  up.  They  stood 
round  the  visitor  and  the  constable  saluted  respectfully.  A  uni- 
formed policeman  had  been  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Burns'  house 
and  (he  'Crown'  all  the  morning/'* 

Westminster  Abbey  is  one  of  the  places  which  the  visitor  cannot 
well  neglect.  It  was  originally  the  burial  place  of  royalty,  and  as  the 
guide  shows  you  the  tablets  and  statues  which  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  warrior  kings  and  tells  yon  bow  this  king  killed  that  one,  and  that 
king  killed  another,  you  recall  the  story  of  the  American  minister 
who  concluded  a  very  short  discourse  at  the  funeral  of  a  man  of  ques- 
tionable character  by  saying.  ''Some  believe  that  he  was  a  tolerable 
good  man,  while  others  believe  that  he  was  a  very  bad  man,  but  whether 
he  was  good  or  bad  we  have  this  consolation,  that  he  is  dead."  It  is 
a  relief  to  pass  from  the  bloody  annals  of  the  earlier  days  and  from  the 
bloody  deeds-of  ancient  royalty  to  that  part  of  the  building  which  is 
honored  by  memorials  of  the  great  men  in  modern  English  life.  To 
the  American  the  most  noted  of  those  recently  buried  in  Westminster 
Abhey  was  Gladstone.  His  life  spanned  the  present  and  the  past  gen- 
eration, and  his  character  and  talents  are  regarded  as  a  part  of  the 
heritage  of  English  speaking  people. 

A  description  of  the  Art  Gallery,  the  public  buildings,  the  Tower, 
and  of  the  many  interesting  and  historic  places  would  occupy  more 
space  than  I  can  spare  at  this  time. 

T  shall  pass  from  England  with  one  observation.  Upon  the  streets 
of  London,  and  in  fact  throughout  the  British  Isles,  the  rule  is  to  "turn 
to  the  left."  The  American  notices  this  at  once,  and  until  he  becomes 
accustomed  to  it  he  is  in  danger  of  collision.  If  England  and  the 
United  States  ever  come  together  in  an  unfriendly  way,  it  will  probably 
be  accounted  for  by  the  difference  in  our  rules.  We  will  be  turning 
to  the  right  while  she  will  be  turning  to  the  left. 

Queenstown-,  Ireland,  the  first  town  to  greet  the  tourist  when  he 
reaches  Northern  Europe  and  the  last  to  bid  him  farewell  when  he 
departs,  is  a  quaint  and  interesting  old  place.  It  is  near  the  City  of 
Cork,  and  the  names  upon  the  signs — the  Murphys,  the  McDonalds, 
the  O'Briens,  etc.,  are  so  familiar  that  one  might  suppose  it  to  be  an 

*Note — It  was  an  ordinary  cab  and  no  policemen  or  secret  service  men  were 
in  sight. —Editor. 


572  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

American  colony.  Here  the  returning  traveler  has  a  chance  to  spend 
any  change  which  he  has  left,  for  black  thorn  canes  and  shillalahs, 
"Robert  Emmett"  and  "Harp  of  Erin"  handkerchiefs  and  lace  collars 
are  offered  in  abundance.  The  price  of  these  wares  has  been  known  to 
fall  considerably  as  the  moment  of  departure  approaches.  At  Queens- 
town  one  can  hear  the  Irish  brogue  in  all  its  richness  and  if  he  takes  a 
little  jaunt  about  the  town  he  can  enjoy  the  humor  for  which  the 
Irish  are  famed. 

Scotland  has  a  hardy  population,  due  probably  to  the  climate.  Even 
near  the  southern  boundary,  the  weather  was  quite  wintry  before 
Thanksgiving  Day  of  last  year.  Scotch  plaids  are  in  evidence  at  the 
stores  and  the  visitor  has  an  opportunity  to  buy  traveling  blankets 
bearing  the  figures  and  the  colors  of  the  various  Scottish  clans.  As  I 
visited  Scotland  to  study  municipal  ownership  I  reserved  for  a  future 
trip  a  visit  'to  the  places  of  natural  and  historic  interest. 

Strange  that  a  narrow  channel  should  make  such  a  difference  as 
there  is  between  the  Englishman  and  the  Frenchman.  Some  one  has 
said,  "not  only  is  England  an  island,  but  each  Englishman  is  an 
island."  This  puts  the  case  a  little  too  strongly,  but  one  notices  that 
the  French  are  much  more  gregarious  than  the  English  and  more 
inclined  to  sociability.  Their  attention  to  strangers  while  not  more 
sincere  is  more  marked. 

Paris  seems  to  be  the  favorite  place  for  residence  for  Americans  who 
desire  to  live  in  Europe.  The  climate  is  milder,  the  attractions  are 
more  numerous  and  the  cooking,  it  is  said,  is  the  best  in  the  world. 

The  automobile  seems  to  have  captured  Paris,  possibly  because  of 
its  many  wide  streets  and  boulevards. 

While  the  tipping  system  may  not  be  worse  in  France  than  in  other 
countries,  it  is  certainly  nowhere  more  fully  developed.  It  is  said 
that  in  some  of  the  fashionable  restaurants  of  Paris  the  tips  are  so 
valuable  that  the  waiters,  instead  of  receiving  wages,  pay  a  bonus  for 
a  chance  to  serve.  But  all  over  Europe  service  of  every  kind  is  rewarded 
with  tips,  and  a  failure  to  comply  with  the  custom  makes  the  delin- 
quent a  persona  non  grata.  At  the  hotels  all  the  attendants  seem  to 
get  notice  of  the  intended  departure  of  a  guest  and  they  line  up  to 
receive  a  remembrance — porter,  chambermaid,  valet,  bell-boy,  elevator 
man,  and  some  whose  faces  are  entirely  new  to  the  guest.  The  cab- 
drivers  collect  the  fare  fixed  by  city  ordinance  and  expect  a  tip  besides. 
Ten  per  cent  is  the  amount  usually  given  and  anything  less  fails  to 
elicit  thanks.  An  Irish  jaunting  car  driver  at  Queenstown  took  out 
his  tip  in  making  change.  While  the  traveler  is  often  tempted  to 
rebel  against  the  tip  system  as  it  is  found  in  Europe,  he  finally  con- 


NOTES  OX  EUROPE  573 

eludes  that  he  can  not  reform  a  continent  in  one  brief  visit  and  submits 
with  as  good  grace  as  possible. 

Guides  can  be  found  at  all  the  leading  hotel-  and  they  are  well 
worth  what  they  charge.  They  are  acquainted  with  all  places  of  in- 
terest, and  can  act  as  interpreters  if  one  wants  to  make  inquiries  or 
do  shopping. 

The  rivers  of  Europe  which  have  been  immortalized  in  poetry  and 
song — the  rivers  whose  names  we  learn  when  as  children  we  study 
geography — are  a  little  disappointing.  The  Thames  at  London,  the 
.Seine  at  Paris,  the  Tiber  at  Rome,  the  Danube  al  Vienna,  the  Spree 
at  Berlin,  the  Po  in  northern  Italy,  and  the  Rhine  are  not  as  large 
as  fancy  has  pictured;  but  the  lakes  of  Switzerland  surpass  description, 

I  regretted  that  T  could  not  visit  the  Bay  of  Naples  for  I  never  think 
of  it  without  recalling  the  lines: 

I  care  not  if  With  dreamful  eyes 

My  little  skiff  .         My  spirit  lies 

Floats  swift  or  slow  Under  the  walls 

From  cliff  to  cliff.  Of  Paradise. 

Surely  it  must  be  a  delightfully  restful  place  if  it  justifies  the  de- 
scription given  by  the  poet. 

I  was  disappointed  that  I  did  not  have  time  to  see  more  of  Germany. 
Berlin  was  the  only  city  in  which  I  stopped,  and  the  fact  that  the 
holiday  festivities  were  at  their  height  made  it  difficult  to  prosecute 
any  investigation.  In  another  article  I  have  discussed  the  German 
socialistic  propaganda,  and  I  shall  here  content  myself  with  calling 
attention  to  their  railroad  system.  The  total  railroad  mileage  at  the 
end  of  the  year  1900,  as  reported  by  the  American  consul,  was  28,601. 
Of  this  mileage  private  companies  owmed  2,573,  and  the  federal  govern- 
ment 798,  the  remainder  was  owned  by  the  various  German  states, 
some  of  the  states  owning  but  a  few  miles  of  line.  The  ownership  of 
the  railroads  by  the  various  states  does  not  in  the  least  interfere  with 
the  operation  of  the  lines.  The  plan  in  operation  in  Germany  sug- 
gests the  possibility  of  state  ownership  in  this  country  as  distinguished 
from  federal  ownership. 

In  Austria  I  saw  for  the  first  time  the  systematic  cultivation  of 
forests.  In  some  places  the  various  plantings  were  near  enough  to- 
gether to  show  trees  of  all  sizes.  At  one  side  the  trees  were  but  a  few 
feet  in  height  while  those  at  the  other  side  of  the  forest  were  beinp 
converted  into  fuel. 

Vienna,  the  capital  of  Austria,  is  not  the  "Old  Vienna"  which 
was  reproduced  at  the  Chicago  World's  Fair  and  at  the  Buffalo  Expo- 
sition, but  is  a  substantial,  new,  and  up-to-date  city.     The  stores  ex- 


574  THE    OLD    WORLD    AND    ITS    WAYS 

hibit  an  endless  variety  of  leather  goods,  and  I  found  there,  as  also 
in  Belgium,  many  novelties  in  iron,  steel  and  brass. 

Russia  deserves  more  attention  than  I  could  give  it  in  the  articles 
on  Tolstoy  and  the  czar.  It  is  a  land  of  wonderful  resources  and 
possibilities,  and  is  making  great  progress  considering  the  fact  that 
a  large  proportion  of  the  population  has  so  recently  emerged  from 
serfdom.  The  peasants  live  in  villages  as  in  France  and  their  life  is 
primitive  compared  with  life  in  the  larger  cities.  There  has  been 
rapid  growth  in  manufacturing,  commerce  and  art.  Besides  furnish- 
ing one  of  the  greatest  of  novelists,  Tolstoy,  who  is  also  the  greatest  of 
living  philosophers,  Russia  has  given  to  the  world  many  others  who 
are  prominent  in  literature  and  in  art.  There  is  an  art  gallery  at 
Moscow  devoted  almost  entirely  to  the  work  of  Russian  artists.  Here 
one  finds  a  most  interesting  collection,  a  large  number  of  the  pictures 
being  devoted  to  home  scenes  and  historic  events.  In  this  gallery  the 
nude  in  art  is  noticeable  by  its  absence.  In  the  art  gallery  at  St. 
Petersburg  most  of  the  paintings  are  by  foreign  artists.  There  is  in 
this  gallery  a  wonderful  collection  of  cameos,  jewelry  and  precious 
stones. 

I  found  in  Russia  a  very  friendly  feeling  toward  the  United  States. 
Prince  Hilkoff,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  Siberian  railroad,  speaks 
English  fluently,  as  do  nearly  all  the  other  prominent  officials.  He 
informed  me  that  he  visited  the  United  States  about  1858  and  crossed 
the  plains  by  wagon.  He  inquired  about  the  Platte  river  and  its 
branches  and  remembered  the  names  of  the  forts  along  the  route. 

I  have  spoken  in  another  article  of  the  deep  hold  which  the  Greek 
Church  has  upon  the  people  of  Russia.  A  story  which  I  heard  in  St. 
Petersburg  illustrates  this.  An  American  residing  there  asked  her 
cook  to  go  to  market  after  some  pigeons,  or  doves  as  they  are  more 
often  called.  The  latter  was  horrified  at  the  thought  and  refused,  saying, 
"The  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  our  Saviour  in  the  form  of  a  dove 
and  it  might  be  in  one  of  these."  Another  American  was  rebuked 
by  her  servant,  who  when  told  to  throw  something  out  of  the  window 
replied,  "This  is  Easter  and  Christ  is  risen.  He  might  be  passing  by 
at  this  moment." 

In  Russia  we  find  the  extremes.  The  government  is  the  most  arbi- 
trary known  among  civilized  nations  and  yet  in  Russia  are  to  be 
found  some  of  the  most  advanced  and  devoted  advocates  of  civil  liberty. 
Nowhere  is  the  doctrine  of  force  more  fully  illustrated  and  yet  from 
Russia  come  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  non-resistance.  The 
poison  and  the  antidote  seem  to  be  found  near  together  in  the  world 
of  thought  as  well  as  in  the  physical  world. 


GODDESS  OF  LIBERTY  IN  NEW  YORK  HARBOR A  WELCOME  SIGHT  TO  THE 

RETURNING   TRAVELER. 


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